Would You Fly In A Pilotless Plane?

When I was still working, my choice of flights were coast to coast. (We had to bid on our flights.) We could do Washington D.C. or New York to LA or San Francisco in about 5-6 hours, depending on the wind direction and velocity. A strong headwind can slow down the plane while a strong tailwind can get us their faster.

Bidding on flights can can be a crapshoot. Sometimes, the pilot will bid on a single flight, or the pilot may have the opportunity to bid on a “string” of trips. It sounds confusing, but it’s easy and from my viewpoint, I thought it worked well.

When I trained to fly the B-747, my reasoning was because I wanted to fly the Chicago to Honolulu or Kauai trip. That worked out well and was about a 10 hour flight, give or take an hour. I just tired of flying over water, so after two years, I reverted back to flying just inside the continental U.S.

I wanted to add that United has now retired their Boeing 747’s. That was a tough pill to swallow. The 747 was the plane that started the whole jumbo revolution and from a pilot’s perspective, it was the safest and most comfortable plane in the air. What a plane.
 

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No way! I'd rather take my chances and go like this-

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Since I plan on traveling when I retire, I will be taking to the skies. The idea of flying in a drone does not excite me. I realize that when I fly now, the plane is automated most of the time. But I still would want a pilot there.

Which is ironic given the fact that I can't wait for autonomous cars! :playful:
 

My last flight was by helicopter ambulance from Lake Havasu AZ to Las Vegas where I had a triple bypass heart operation. I will never fly again....
 
My last flight was by helicopter ambulance from Lake Havasu AZ to Las Vegas where I had a triple bypass heart operation. I will never fly again....
We kill hogs from helicopters with AR15's. Great rush to blast away as they attempt to escape the chopper from hell.
 
Pappy....I liked the Constellation. That particular plane was immediately recognizable by its triple tail. The Constellation had many advances over the present day aircraft back in its time and even some of those advances are still used today, just improved. It was also used by the military and was a very reliable aircraft.

And the creature comforts were amazing. Tons of leg room, great meals and very pretty stewardess
 
I don't trust technology enough yet for that. I wouldn't travel in a driverless car or have surgery done by a bot either.
 
I am glad to read that the posters here still trust the skills of pilots. Over the years, many of the accidents have been blamed on pilot error. One of our union reps said one time that when the NTSB can’t come up with a reasonable explanation of what caused an accident, it was most convenient to blame it on pilot error.

I wouldn’t be truthful if I didn’t say that pilots were to blame for some of the accidents, but like anyone in almost any job, if they aren’t given the proper training, then things can and will go wrong. Of course, there have been some accidents that have been caused by pilots who just made bad decisions.

This is why technology was developed to help alleviate mistakes from being made. A lot of technology on planes today were developed to avoid another crash caused by “pilot error.” There hasn’t been a major accident of an airliner in the U.S. since 2001.
 
No! I wouldn't go in a driverless car either. Seems both could have faulty computers and cause a problem that would end in a disaster.
 
No, I haven't flown in years. Certainly not in a politless craft. If I can't drive there I don't go.
I don't want to ride in a driverless car.
 


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