the blind pilot...a not-so-hypothetical

[Guest CowlFlapsOpen]

Heard a podcast recently ("Fly With Joe", check it out!) in which Joe d'Ore, a captain for a major airline, interviewed a 30-something old blind man who dreams of becoming a pilot and soloing. The aspiring pilot has a big heart and no shortage of "can do" attitude but only a very vague understanding of the challenges at this point. He is serious apparently however. Among other things, he suggests he will replace all the aircraft guages with aural versions. In this spirit of "Anything but another tedious FSX beta post" I wondered whethered folks think this can be actually done. I have my own view but am not sharing it. If we solve this we can turn our attentions to whether a deaf, dumb, and blind kid can play pinball ...as the Who so famously claimed three decades ago!

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

"I have my own view but am not sharing it."If you are not sharing your view, why would you expect anyone else to share their's? I don't understand the logic behind that.

[Guest CowlFlapsOpen]

It was just an innocent statement intended to be playfully provocative. I didn't want to shortchange discussion by getting my own question off in one direction over another right away. That seems a little antithetical to the spirit of a fun discussion. Also, I was curious what folks more knowledgable than I had to say before I started beating one drum or another. Finally, here is nothing particularly authoritative about my view that I'm sure others won't voice. I'm less interested in broadcasting my own veiws than hearing others. Thought the discussion would be more fun with more opinions is all. I apologize if I've upset you.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

You haven't upset me (why do folks seem to jump to the conclusion that I am either upset or offended, or whatever all the time? Is it the voice I am writing in????). I was trying to figure out the logic of asking for an opinion while at the same time refusing to state your own. Your explanation makes some sense, but I think whether your opinion is "authoritative" or not really isn't an issue. Everyone has opinions and you are entitled to yours. Why not state it? :)

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

"(why do folks seem to jump to the conclusion that I am either upset or offended, or whatever all the time? Is it the voice I am writing in????)"Now you see how I feel all the time...ROFL:-lol

[Guest B52Drivr]

CFOA most interesting, question and answer, (the original post), and I also liked your reply to Toms -- you do well with words and use the language proficiently. As to the Blind, deaf and dumb boy, I am sure either today's or the futures technology will allow that to be accomplished with mild competency, however it would never be allowed to become the norm, IMHO.Unfortunately, flying an aircraft for more than a single junket, requires human eyes to function. should we develope some space-related 'eyes' in the future which will serve a 'human' as well as what we were born with, then, perhaps that will change -- perhaps not, as we all know, the FAA has NO sense of humor nor caters to change in its holiest of flight regulations. Yes, we have radar, and TCAS and all the bells and whistles of modern aircraft, however it is still necessary to 'see' to even taxi from the gate. I just don't believe our 'outdated' human eyes will ever be replaced.Best to all Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

[Guest CowlFlapsOpen]

Thanks Clay. One of the things this person said that got me thinking concerned the aural replacement of instruments. He concentrated on the altimeter. He suggested he could replace the altimter with a gauge that did altitude call outs or alerted him when he deviated from a set altitude. Okay, I was buying that, but then I began to think about the attitude indicator. How on earth do you replace a two axis system like that aurally? And so on. What about information overload?

[Fitz505 21]

A major issue would be equipment failure, which at some point happens sooner or later. A visually impared pilot wouldn't be able to fall back on the old "seat of the pants" flying. Having said that,I'm sure it will happen eventually for one of those "Ripley, Believe it or Not" type shows. Fitz

[monnie 1]

"You haven't upset me (why do folks seem to jump to the conclusion that I am either upset or offended, or whatever all the time? Is it the voice I am writing in????). "Tom, Sometimes it comes down to "Body Language" which can give that impression. I've sometimes noticed that your index finger on your left hand sometimes shows a little attitude when you're typing. You might want to get that in check.:-)Sorry that I had to be so blunt. Best regardsJan1,KINDWhen I push the button and it works, I'm happy:-)

[monnie 1]

"A most interesting, question and answer, (the original post), and I also liked your reply to Toms -- you do well with words and use the language proficiently. As to the Blind, deaf and dumb boy, I am sure either today's or the futures technology will allow that to be accomplished with mild competency, however it would never be allowed to become the norm, IMHO."Morning, Clay,WHen I first read the question the first thing that came to mind what that "B52" pilots Pull the shades and fly on instrument. And as I thought about technology we have today I had to come to the conclusion that it can become the "norm".We have cars being developed that will take you anywhere you want to go using GPS as guidance, and sensors in the road to detect hadzards. If necesary the care will override the human and stop or slow down.In aircraft we have GPSW and gyros, and auto pilots. On the dark side, if you show a "cruz missle" a picture, it will go blow it up.Some things we don't do is be cause we are either afraid of or stubburn about. A 747 takes off, flys around, lands. As long as we know that there are 2 pilots in the cockpit we are okay with that. We really give no thought to the idea that somebody push a button or flipped a swithch and the plane said "Okay".We only trust our machines when we want to. Machines talk. In hospitals robots go from place to place picking up items, leave the room, go down the hallways without killing people, go to an elevator, wait it's turn, get on the elevator, go to the correct floor, get off and go make it's delivery. We tell a cell phone to call a number and most times it gets it correct.I think it will happen that no matter the limitations, or challenge humankind can overcome. Being a Marine, I have to say this...The "difficult" may take a while to accomplish, the "impossible", only a lttle longer.When confronted with questions like this i sometimes consider what can be considered one of the smartest items known to man..the Thermos Bottle. It keeps hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold. HOW DO IT KNOW??!!:-)I hope you don't think that I'm saying that you're wrong in what you are saying. I'm only offering my perspective which is only as good as my lack of knowlege.Best regardsJan1,KINDWhen I push the button and it works, I'm happy:-)

[Guest B52Drivr]

No offense taken, and you bring up a most valid point. However on Buffs, the shades were strictly for eye protection when dropping nukes, as we wouldn't dare take off or land with the shades drawn -- not unless you wanted to see a really large mess of aluminun and such scattered all over the airport. Back then, Buff's didn't exactly have the greatest autopilots or state of the art instrumentation as we do today -- then again, it would be interesting to see what they have equipped those aircraft with as seeing that itis still flying, it has suffered through a ton of upgrades and modifications.On the robots and such, you are quite correct, and the 747 can perform an auto land, and with the right settings will just about take off on its own, but a pair of 'eyes' is still rather essential to run that equipment. Saying that, the first gent to do all this, being blind, would have to be one sharp cookie, but as in all things with us humans, it is possible and who knows, someone could even be training right now for just such a flight. Look at all of our hy tech today, and we've been flying for less than a hundred years -- pretty fantastic! ####, I think Flight Sim is pretty fantastic to be able to duplicate all we have on a computer which only knows about x'x and 0's or 0's and 1's -- LOL which ever that is.Again you bring up a most valid point. Well said.Best to all, Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

[monnie 1]

By the way,Clay...I have two brothers who were USAF. One was a Buff pilot and now is a project manager on one of the newer UFO's. He misses it and I imagine you do also because you guys tend to be nutty in that area.:-)I was a little cautious when when I was replying to you because the one thing I learned about "retired" Air Force is that you have to approach them very humble, and be careful not to provoke them becuase they have friends in very high places.:-)Thanks for the come back.LaMonte CrenshawUSMC (Ret)Best regardsJan1,KINDWhen I push the button and it works, I'm happy:-)

[Guest B52Drivr]

You made me smile. All in all, I'm pretty easy and my wife tells me my bark is much worse than my bite -- I'm not sure how to take that one so I just ignore it, LOL. And my nags have sort of calmed me down in the past 7 years or so, and my grandkids call me Papaw Grump. Grandkids, wow, now I never thought I would get there, for sure.Best to you and yours, Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"