Qutch
Question everything
I don't see what the big deal is. I fly everywhere by pilotage... Even in IMC.
........I'm not sure what the threat is.
I recall years ago when I first heard R&D forecasters predicting that pilots would need to adjust to a radically altered role and competition from technology. If pilots didn't adjust, they said lower wages and job insecurity would be in their future. Those forecasters were laughed at by most pilots. No matter. Those scientists went underground and busied themselves minimizing the role of the pilot.
I think Murdoughnut's OP is important for 2 reasons. The increasing gulf between the training and use of cerebral piloting skills (both old and newly developed techniques), vs. pilot welcomed reliance on automation, presents 2 main risks to JC members. One risk is to National Security. The other risk is the diminishing importance of the pilot's future role in commercial aviation. If younger pilots keep trying to laugh this off, their fate is sealed.
Below is a glimpse of this second risk, that to commercial aviation pilots. Your tax dollars at work. NASA's Aurora Flight Sciences. When they aren't planning delivery vehicles for Solar Radiation Management flights, they're working to reduce aviation employers' reliance on pilots. To many R&D people, aviation's future isn't controlled by the pilot anymore, it's controlled by them, or soon will be. Aviation is owned and funded by the employer. Employers and passengers are the driving mission behind much aviation R&D. Not pilots.
NASA - Aurora..... "Our objective is to replace pilots with operators"
NASA - Aurora ...... GA "pilot optional" aircraft
MikeD touched on the National Security aspect. I'll post more on Yung's National Security arguments later.
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