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Today's second go belonged to the Bold Tigers.

Gets to be in the air, and not stuck in a booth.

Let alone the time when technology will replace the need for navigators... ...oh wait...

Just saw this article up on CNN.com Here's a good one... If/when pilots are walking down the aisles of airliners NOT flying and instead serving beverages and peanuts, just go ahead and kill me because that is a world I do not want to live in. https://www.cnn.com/2012/03/24/travel/autopilot-airlines/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

I'll take it.

Fedex?

The first rule of U-28 is that you don't talk about U-28...

Holy shit. How much do YOU know about the aircraft? You know any of the pilots? You know any of the guys working the program? Do you know anything beyond a Secret *proposed* capes brief, built by the blue kool aid brigade or Lockheed? If you knew anything real about this airplane, the program, the problems with it, etc, you would be shutting the fuck up right now.

I thought it was sarah palin, I swear.

Wait, I'm old, what's a trunk monkey? A nav or a window licker? I've seen the commercials and they're great but the monkeys, while subserviant, always seemed a bit bad ass. Which is something the majority of navs and window lickers I've known (small sample set) haven't been. Another question, I don't ride subways much, but I've never been on one that didn't have a driver, where are there unmanned subways? Nearest thing I've seen are airport trams, which are on a one way round trip track, felt fine about it. Subways/trains, wouldn't feel so good about. Pawn--you start with a conclusion, then find arguments to meet it. With costs specifically I'll bring up minor example of block 30 Global Hawk vs U2. I think it's pretty obvious the U2 ain't cheap to operate. And yet even those in the AF/DoD who backed GH as a replacement admitted publically that GH couldn't compete cost-wise. I find the UAV-UAS-RPV-RPA-WTF line of renaming things as annoying as everyone else, but I think the point was correct that there's still a pilot in the loop. The fact that the pilot isn't in the cockpit doesn't change any of the cost requirements you listed. Pilot error, you paint with a broad brush there. What was the error related to? Quite often it's failure to recover/maintain control when an automated system failed. Others have already pointed out that no one tracks when a pilot recoverd a plane after automation failed. In your "pilot error" numbers fwhich you neither quote nor cite references for, have you corrected for automation failures? While the media often simplifies mishaps to "pilot error" if you delve into safety stats it's usually listed as "human error," which encompasses a lot more people than the pilot left holding the bag. Mx, engineers, programmers. None of those errors will be mitigated by taking the pilot out of the cockpit. 9-11--That doesn't even make sense. The problem was they took control of an aircraft. Cutting throats was [horrible] details. Taking pilots off the aircraft doesn't mean someone unfriendly can't take control of it. All it means is that hijackers don't have to commit suicide during the act. Iran and the UAV they swiped should put your mind at ease. You have an amazing faith in automation--must have had crazy luck with computers in your life. I won't get into my two decade love affair with Microsoft but my glass jet has crapped out midway over Atlantic on a moonless night in the middle of nowhere. It autorestarted, but everything pre-programmed had dumped. I've had to force restart my nifty iphone too. In both cases without a human there to restart/reprogram/stick actuate till the automation came back it was useless. I actually do believe unmanned systems are the future. The open questions are, unmanned for what missions and how far away is "the future?" Take a look at Fedex, the profits they make, what they pay their crews, and the aircraft they fly. They'll go unmanned when it makes sense profit-wise. Tell me when that will be. They still pay pilots pretty good coin to sit sideways as flight engineers. Probably gunna happen. Ain't gunna be tomorrow.

Your automated airplane takes off, flies through a large flock of geese, and flames out both engines of your two engine airliner. Where does the autopilot decide to land it?

OLD FIGHTER PILOT A ragged, old, derelict shuffled into a down and dirty bar. Stinking of whiskey and cigarettes, his hands shook as he took the "Piano Player Wanted" sign from the window and handed it to the bartender. "I'd like to apply for the job," he said. "I was an F-4E driver, flying out of Udorn back in ' Nam , but when they retired the Phantom all the thrill was gone, and soon they cashed me in as well. I learned to play the piano at AUSSIE-Club happy hours, so here I am." The barkeep wasn't too sure about this doubtful looking old guy, but it had been quite a while since he had a piano player and business was falling off.. So, why not give him a try. The seedy pilot staggered his way over to the piano while several patrons snickered. By the time he was into his third bar of music, every voice was silenced. What followed was a rhapsody of soaring music unlike anything heard in the bar before. When he finished there wasn't a dry eye in the place. The bartender took the old fighter pilot a beer and asked him the name of the song he had just played? It's called "Drop your Skivvies, Baby, I'm Going Balls To The Wall For You" he said. After a long pull from the beer, leaving it empty, he said "I wrote it myself." The bartender and the crowd winced at the title, but the piano player just went on into a knee-slapping, hand-clapping bit of ragti me that had the place jumping. After he finished, the fighter pilot acknowledged the applause, downed a second proffered mug, and told the crowd the song was called, "Big Boobs Make My Afterburner Light." He then launched into another mesmerizing song and everyone in the room was enthralled. He announced that it was the latest rendition of his song, "Spread 'em Baby, It's Foggy Out Tonight and I Need To See The Centerline", excused himself and headed for the john. When he came out the bartender went over to him and said, "Hey fly boy, the job is yours, but do you know your fly is open and your pecker is hanging out. "Know it?" the old fighter pilot replied, "Hell, I wrote it!"