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  • Salanis

    July 11, 2010 10:01 p.m. Salanis SuperDork

    SVreX wrote:

    Salanis wrote:

    Nope, because you'll still need a pilots license and will be operating under normal FAA guidelines when it's in the air.

    So, are you suggesting that it will be OK because average morons won't be able to get a pilot's license?

    Pilots tweet too, even in the air, and it doesn't make any difference that they've got a pilot's license.

    It's actually pretty easy to not pay attention to what you are doing in a modern airplane. They fly by pre-programmed auto pilots on predetermined flight plans. Makes internet surfing a breeze.

    I'm stating that getting a pilots license is not easy, and very few people would be bothered to get one. It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to get one. Flying is not an easy skill. It actually has less to do with what "average morons" are capable of doing, and more to do with what they have the motivation to do.

    Kind of like getting a competition racing license. Anyone could get a competition racing license. Very few people will actually bother to go through with it. And a racing license is a lot easier to get than a pilots license.

    Driving a car is relatively intuitive. Flying an airplane is not. Common conceptions like: "Throttle = Faster/slower", "stick forward/backward = go down/go up", are actually not true.

    No, airplanes do not all fly by pre-programmed auto pilots. The big commercial jets do, but general aviation typically does not. Auto-pilot is a really nice feature though.

    It can be easy to "not pay attention" while flying cross country; lots and lots of straight-and-level. When flying cross country, I always brought a novel with me and figured I could read a page, check to be sure everything was okay, make a minor course refinement, and read another page.

  • Appleseed

    July 12, 2010 1:07 a.m. Appleseed SuperDork

    Because most people aren't willing to lay out $3-4-5,000+ for a license. That in itself weeds out a lot of flakes. If you get far enough into it, you realize how easy it it to kill yourself. Like real easy.

    And I've never failed a written test in my life. Except the FAA written test. That thing is a mofo. To compare, I passed the written at the DMV when my 10 year renewal was up without studying at all. 100 % right.

  • DILYSI Dave

    July 12, 2010 7:16 a.m. DILYSI Dave SuperDork

    Jay wrote:

    mblommel wrote:

    How long before we see something like this though:

    Those are real... Search for 'gyrocopter' or 'autogyro'. I've heard they're an excellent way to kill yourself. Still, I'm probably dumb enough to try one if I had the opportunity.

    Lol - someone photochopped a TJ into that pic.

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