Hi, everyone,
Here is my 2 cents... I'm very lucky to have flown some UAVs before coming to the airlines. I've done pretty much everything the media mentioned.
A couple of things I want to mention that the media didn't. First, there is always at least one pilot behind the control. He is just not there on the plane but on the ground. This can be a very awesome job if you like to be home everynight with the wife and kids. Imagine flying from LAX to BOS without leaving your home at the end of the trip. I know it's not that fun to most poeple, but I still think it's pretty cool.
Someone mentioned about missing the jetbridge while parking. Actually, every UAV has a nose camer that pilots use while taxiing around. So, it will not be a problem at all as long as you have a wing walker and a mashaller.
Another thing that the media fails to mention is that UAVs are flown just like the way we fly manned airplanes. There are memory items for every systems failure or scenario. So if you have an engine problem while flying over a congested area, you can still manuever the aircraft to an uncongested area just like the way we would do on manned airplanes.
Lastly, I do feel bad for our military fighter pilots. As you all know there are Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) being tested everyday. UCAVs pilots(on the ground) can pull 25 Gs without breaking a sweat. Now, that's pretty hard to compete with.
Oh, the next group of pilots that would be affected, I think, would be the US customs and fire tankers/ the lead planes. With the type of cameras/sensors on board the UAVs and the long endurance (up to 24 hrs) it is very easy to patrol the borders and fight the fire - day or night.
Just my two cents.
Here is my 2 cents... I'm very lucky to have flown some UAVs before coming to the airlines. I've done pretty much everything the media mentioned.
A couple of things I want to mention that the media didn't. First, there is always at least one pilot behind the control. He is just not there on the plane but on the ground. This can be a very awesome job if you like to be home everynight with the wife and kids. Imagine flying from LAX to BOS without leaving your home at the end of the trip. I know it's not that fun to most poeple, but I still think it's pretty cool.
Someone mentioned about missing the jetbridge while parking. Actually, every UAV has a nose camer that pilots use while taxiing around. So, it will not be a problem at all as long as you have a wing walker and a mashaller.
Another thing that the media fails to mention is that UAVs are flown just like the way we fly manned airplanes. There are memory items for every systems failure or scenario. So if you have an engine problem while flying over a congested area, you can still manuever the aircraft to an uncongested area just like the way we would do on manned airplanes.
Lastly, I do feel bad for our military fighter pilots. As you all know there are Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) being tested everyday. UCAVs pilots(on the ground) can pull 25 Gs without breaking a sweat. Now, that's pretty hard to compete with.
Oh, the next group of pilots that would be affected, I think, would be the US customs and fire tankers/ the lead planes. With the type of cameras/sensors on board the UAVs and the long endurance (up to 24 hrs) it is very easy to patrol the borders and fight the fire - day or night.
Just my two cents.
