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2009-06-28 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

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Posted by Steve White 2009-06-28 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Ah, European quality.

Posted by 49 Pan 2009-06-28 00:18|| 2009-06-28 00:18|| Front Page Top

#2 After a long period of (mostly) reliability, airplanes are headed towards a lot of crashes in the next few years as they work out the bugs in computer-controlled aviation. It's the same old story when they computerize anything: garbage in, garbage out. In addition, the sheer complexity of the system will interact with itself to cause new, innovative air crashes like the flight from Brazil.

Posted by gromky 2009-06-28 01:38|| 2009-06-28 01:38|| Front Page Top

#3 Perhaps someone with aviation experience can explain to me why the industry is putting all this work into having a computer fly the plane when we have two pilots on board every flight ...

Posted by Steve White 2009-06-28 01:52|| 2009-06-28 01:52|| Front Page Top

#4 The same reason Nicholas Negroponte kept trying, from his position on the Motorola Board, to convince the company to spend billions of dollars to communicate along the bodies electric field.

He never could explain where the revenue came from in communication between devices on my fingers to devices on my toes. You know revenue to pay back those billions invested.

Do my toes and fingers earn money?

Its another geeky form of the Peter Principal - it must be done - BECAUSE!

Same for the Airbus... It is cosmic for the plane to fly itself.

Same for Cap and Trade.... It shows love for the carbon burned...

Posted by 3dc 2009-06-28 02:14|| 2009-06-28 02:14|| Front Page Top

#5 Oh, and it is not so much a masses thing...
When did TSA check and scan you before boarding the City Buses?

No autopilot on the Bus either!

Posted by 3dc 2009-06-28 02:17|| 2009-06-28 02:17|| Front Page Top

#6 Perhaps someone with aviation experience can explain to me why the industry

So they won't have to import pilots from 3rd world 20 years from now?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-06-28 03:13|| 2009-06-28 03:13|| Front Page Top

#7 A B-2 bomber crashed a while ago because it had a pitot tube or some such sensor ice up. Same thing here, just that it happens in flight instead of on the ground? It seems to me the air speed sensor may be sensitive to specific weather conditions. And what is with the computers? Did they feel any need to replace them or are they sure they're working fine again?

Maybe they could put a wind sock and pinwheel on the nose of the airplane or something so the pilot can keep an eye on things better. Or move that sensor into the cockpit where it is warmer. ;-)

Posted by gorb 2009-06-28 03:57|| 2009-06-28 03:57|| Front Page Top

#8 There is not any reason to criticise Airbus quality. At least now. Things like that happens. There are thousands of Airbus planes in the air everyday.

"Perhaps someone with aviation experience can explain to me why the industry is putting all this work into having a computer fly the plane when we have two pilots on board every flight"

Because most mistakes are made by pilots.

Posted by Large Snerong7311 2009-06-28 07:49|| 2009-06-28 07:49|| Front Page Top

#9 Because most mistakes are made by pilots.

Not on the Airbus, or so it seems.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2009-06-28 14:54|| 2009-06-28 14:54|| Front Page Top

#10 Pitch + Power = Performance -> A basic Instrument Pilot Rating equation that the "Northwurst" pilots managed to keep in their memory banks. The Air France crew not so much, maybe (we'll see what the "Black" boxes have to say....

Posted by Uncle Phester 2009-06-28 18:58|| 2009-06-28 18:58|| Front Page Top

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