Piper virgin

UAVs, quad and hex-copter technology will replace winged aircraft. Amazon's program is now FAA green lighted for development, and LockMart just had a major UAV program announcement that I'm not sure if it relates to the Amazon program or not.

GA a s stagnant where it is because it is nearly useless, especially at the cost; it's an expensive hassle. It's also viewed as beyond their ability or desire to learn by most people.

With Amazon and LockMart on commercial application programs, both the energy source and useful load and range, as well as autonomous operation technology (already pretty damn good) will advance. Once it proves out in unmanned cargo applications, that is when we will finally get the 'flying car' society; when Mrs Crabapple can climb in and tell it "Publix on 6th street."

That is the future of GA. The alternate is the continued decline as a sport/hobby flying what we have.

Amazon seems quite determined though.
 
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Henning said:
UAVs, quad and hex-copter technology will replace winged aircraft. Amazon's program is now FAA green lighted for development, and LockMart just had a major UAV program announcement that I'm not sure if it relates to the Amazon program or not.

GA a s stagnant where it is because it is nearly useless, especially at the cost; it's an expensive hassle. It's also viewed as beyond their ability or desire to learn by most people.

With Amazon and LockMart on commercial application programs, both the energy source and useful load and range, as well as autonomous operation technology (already pretty damn good) will advance. Once it proves out in unmanned cargo applications, that is when we will finally get the 'flying car' society; when Mrs Crabapple can climb in and tell it "Publix on 6th street."

That is the future of GA. The alternate is the continued decline as a sport/hobby flying what we have.

Amazon seems quite determined though.
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I can't say that I completely disagree with you, but I also think this is a doom and gloom scenario. I don't think the new technologies are replacing existing GA applications, they, if anything, are enhancing it. There will always be the hobbyists, the business aviation sector, and the gov't slowing the development down. The only other wildcard is the operating costs, which just like every motor vehicle, is coming off of an all-time high. I suspect now that fuel prices are down significantly, and the economy has generally improved, we will see a decent uptick in GA come summer-time.
 
ahkahn said:
I can't say that I completely disagree with you, but I also think this is a doom and gloom scenario. I don't think the new technologies are replacing existing GA applications, they, if anything, are enhancing it. There will always be the hobbyists, the business aviation sector, and the gov't slowing the development down. The only other wildcard is the operating costs, which just like every motor vehicle, is coming off of an all-time high. I suspect now that fuel prices are down significantly, and the economy has generally improved, we will see a decent uptick in GA come summer-time.
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It's not doom and gloom, it's just reality, and cost factor is a big part of that. Wings will take it for long range travel for the foreseeable future, but most people don't need long range, they need short and medium range, they need to get their daily commute done. Until that roll can be filled by aviation, GA will stay where it is.
 
I think a lot of older pilots, if they had a real thorough physical would find that they had issues that would preclude them from flying. The average third class check is pretty limp. Judging from some questions asked on this site I conclude that there are also those who probably deny that a problem exists or don't want to know about it. Not good if passengers are involved. Same with older auto drivers. As for average ga pilots, they are flying aircraft that are usually over fifty years old,over priced, getting older , many with suspect log books. Ga has priced a lot of potential pilots right out of the air, not to mention fuel and insurance, hangars, on and on.
 
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Henning said:
...we will finally get the 'flying car' society; when Mrs Crabapple can climb in and tell it "Publix on 6th street."
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Never gonna happen. Lawyers won't let it.

The first time anything falls from a personal vehicle, or crashes, or the downdraft knocks someone's iPhone 37 out of their hand, the lawyers will sue the manufacturer out of existence. It wasn't lack of interest that killed GA, it was liability and blame.
 
tyndall said:
Never gonna happen. Lawyers won't let it.

The first time anything falls from a personal vehicle, or crashes, or the downdraft knocks someone's iPhone 37 out of their hand, the lawyers will sue the manufacturer out of existence. It wasn't lack of interest that killed GA, it was liability and blame.
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:confused: Lawyers will be jumping up and down over the potential in fees, what are you talking about?
 
tyndall said:
Never gonna happen. Lawyers won't let it.

The first time anything falls from a personal vehicle, or crashes, or the downdraft knocks someone's iPhone 37 out of their hand, the lawyers will sue the manufacturer out of existence. It wasn't lack of interest that killed GA, it was liability and blame.
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The flying car is 1946 type thinking. Sort of a stupid concept when one considers parking, weather, etc. What killed GA is that the bonanza originally sold for around ten grand, it's now well over half a million. A worn out 172 goes for fourty fifty grand! Then there's fuel which is out of sight, insurance and maintenance charges. No wonder it's dying! Beechcraft was not sued out of existence rather it priced itself out of the market.
 
Henning said:
I don't disparage either high or low, it's just good to understand the limitations of them to guard against.
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Clearly the only solution to this dilemma is a plane with no wings. :p


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FlyingMonkey said:
Clearly the only solution to this dilemma is a plane with no wings. :p
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Or an airplane with no pilot.

And Henning, you are missing the boat on medical. I'm not old and I don't have serious medical problems. But I have spent more money chasing my medical for the past 3 years than I have spent flying....and there's nothing that should keep me from flying except an archaic system adhering to outdated medical protocols targeted for professional pilots. One day sooner or later it will catch up with you too and you'll figure it out.

You say that you know a lot of guys who kept their medical until they died, but that can't be the majority unless you know a lot of guys dying young.
 
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