It may not be that far off. Technologically, we could build this plane today as it is many magnitudes simpler than the self driving car, however ATC would have to be completely overhauled to support this future flight.
Public acceptance might not be as tough of a sell as one might think. Most people today are fully aware that the Jumbo Jets they frequently fly on fly all by themselves a lot and the word autopilot is well understood in popular culture. I was not suggesting that these new planes would not require someone who is trained to command it though. I still see a "pilot" being required to monitor the flight and deal with problems. The idea being that the amount of training required for this new pilot would be vastly reduced from what it is now.
Anyhow, my question was more hypothetical than it was to be prophetic. Would the GA community accept and embrace these new airplanes, or would they see it as the death of aviation. I think likely the later. It seems that pilots today are firmly rooted in some sort of romantic past. If so, it would seem that for GA to grow and thrive on a large scale, GA has to die in the process if that makes any sense.
