"pilots almost superfluous"

[crj567]

Obviously, he's not the man his father was . . . which is why the son writes for Vanity Fair instead of a credible publication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Langewiesche

I was wondering if he was any relation... Damn shame that the prodgeny of the author of "stick and rudder" turned out to be such a butt-pirate.

 

[nimtz]

Writing for Vanity Fair! Only the finest Upper East Side 'creme de la creme' read such a stellar publication. Let me just glance at The New Yorker cartoon from this week and give a peruse to Mr Langeweische's analysis. I bet my paltry career earnings that Sully's book trounces Mr Langeweische's at the cash register...

 

[AvroGuy]

Maybe someone should take him up in an airplane, enter into a stall or spin and see if this guy can do any better recovering from it. He's on the outside, looking in.

if the plane was fully automated he wouldn't enter a stall/spin accident the computer wouldn't let it. Then the whole Airways/Hudson thing, the odds are stacked in the computers favor of that ever happening again. Technology exists today, this very moment for an automated, read pilotless, airplane. The thing we have going for us, pilots, is integration into a system with piloted airplanes, ie. logistics, and public acceptance. It may happen in the next 50 years. I say that becuase look 50 years back. What are we doing today that was said would never happen then.

 

[Ad Lib]

He also wrote a damming account of the Legacy pilots in the accidents with GO's 737 down in Brazil. He completely overlooked the maintenance issues on the Transponder and makes it sound like the pilots turned it off.

 

[Bad-Andy]

Well, there is $24 I won't be spending. What an ass-clown. Maybe he should stick to whatever drivel he normally writes for Vanity Fair. To praise the automation and the airframe for saving the day??? Give me a break, without pilots, the thing would have ended up going straight into the water (or worse hitting a building full of people). Even the cheese-eating surrender monkeys here in Toulouse admit that it was superior airmanship that saved a lot of lives that day. Maybe he should have asked some of them about Sulley...

 

[Jar Jar]

if the plane was fully automated he wouldn't enter a stall/spin accident the computer wouldn't let it.

wow.. you fly? Let me throw you one bone, wake turbulence.

 

[no1pilot2000]

He's like a lawyer telling a doctor how to treat people patients or vise versa. I was going to tell this guy to stick to writing, but he's not very good at that either.

 

[Abernathy]

He's like a lawyer telling a doctor how to treat people patients or vise versa. I was going to tell this guy to stick to writing, but he's not very good at that either.

Say what you will about his attitude (which does reek of an aviation version of "penis-envy"), but Langewiesche does happen to be a superb writer. I have read many of his articles in Vanity Fair--non aviation related--which have been some of the better researched and written articles I have ever come across in a magazine.

The problem is, in this situation, he can use this to be very persuasive. He does have one good point, though. Airbus got no real credit for the successful outcome of the accident. His article on the Hudson incident in Vanity Fair, where he discusses this, is a good read and worth googling. Whether or not the Airbus could have done this itself is not really a question--it's a ridiculous assumption.

It's apparent he's got a chip on his shoulder with airline pilots. I don't know if he was rejected one too many times in his past (he does claim he flew professionally to "pay the bills")--but his criticism appears based more on scorn than actual reality.

Regardless, I'll continue to read his articles whenever they appear as they are usually pretty good.

 

[whymeworry?]

OK, so lets all withdraw services for a day and watch these planes fly themselves.

 

[Mud Eagle]

It's apparent he's got a chip on his shoulder with airline pilots. I don't know if he was rejected one too many times in his past (he does claim he flew professionally to "pay the bills")--but his criticism appears based more on scorn than actual reality.

This.