Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Self-flying airplanes are coming. They will be very good, but not perfect. Younger generations may accept that less than perfect.

Aviation is repeating its history from about a hundred years ago. Instead of the Wright brothers, we now have “drones” or “UAVs.” I put these terms in quotes as they are misused terribly and often. Regardless of the ignorance of the press, we are seeing a repeat.

Self-flying air vehicles have been used in military reconnaissance for more than a decade. Next, these reconnaissance planes started dropping ordnance on people. Coming, they will be used in air-to-air combat. We saw the same sequence in aviation in WW I.

After WW I, we saw the advent of commercial aviation. Hence, the next step for self-flying planes is commercial aviation. The question is,

Will any passenger fly in a plane without a pilot?

Most people of my age (50+) will answer, “No.” That is why we make the pilots sit in the front of the plane. If there is an accident, they hit first. That gives them a really big motivation to approach the ground carefully.

Coming into the picture, however, is the younger generations. I’ve already written that since these guys grew up in a digital world, they have come to accept less-than-perfect performance from their computers.

My guess is that they will accept pilot-less airliners. I might as well. It could be pleasant to fly without hearing the mindless drone of the pilot telling us that they will try to get us there early.