TL 8/9 air taxis

[Timerover51]

They already have a separate category for drones. Have had since 2014.

I doubt very much if the FAA is going to allow commercial passenger-carrying aerial vehicles to be operated as drones. There is going to be an on-board pilot, with appropriate licenses and insurance.

 

[aramis]

I doubt very much if the FAA is going to allow commercial passenger-carrying aerial vehicles to be operated as drones. There is going to be an on-board pilot, with appropriate licenses and insurance.

They've already said otherwise. They've set standards, and it's just a matter of time before someone meets or exceeds them. (They set cargo and passenger drone standards in 2014... Amazon's already operating unmanned drones in several cities for cargo delivery. The passenger standards aren't far off.

Note that the military's drones have set better track records for safe flight and safe landings than just about anything actually flown by people. And the drones are, largely, flown by "insert the nav waypoint and leave it to the autopilot computer." The pilot is really a glorified gunner; he's there to make the fire/no-fire decisions (for geneva convention purposes, as I understand it). Sure, they can take the stick, but with the lag, the autopilot is far better still. ID the target, and in up to 0.5 sec, the bird's locked, and if you arm, the bird fires at near optimal. "Videogame warfare"... NCO's as drone ops. They do not want trained pilots - trained pilots, according the CW4 interviewed, tent to have too many bad habits to unlearn.

Plus, the FAA has approved the autopilot and autolanding systems already for passenger flight. Sure, the pilots can override them, but it's really a bad idea, because the system's better than the pilot. Except that it cannot take verbals directions from ATC.

 

[BlackBat242]

Plus, the FAA has approved the autopilot and autolanding systems already for passenger flight. Sure, the pilots can override them, but it's really a bad idea, because the system's better than the pilot. Except that it cannot take verbals directions from ATC.

So we just need to enable the ATC computer to send instructions to the drone/aircraft's computer.

:nonono:

 

[Fovean]

What Lake Front Airport? Meigs Field was plowed up by Richey Daley quite a few years ago. I would not hold my breath on trying to get another one in place.

[... ]

Finally, how does operating an electric flying vehicle in the middle of a fast-moving thunderstorm line work?

A very late response due to a crushing work schedule finishing up a big project.

Well, first off, I stand corrected and thank you for reminding me that Miegs is gone. It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve lived in Chicago and I rarely visit. But I think you take my point - there are viable areas available for this kind of development adjacent to the Loop. Second, I think thou doth protest too much.

Clearly the air-taxi/aerodyne/flying car is not going to work everywhere all the time. AirTaxi 2.0 (whatever that is) will have to address those issues. And Chicago is not unique regarding those concerns. I’ve seen haboobs in Khartoum that will choke any mechanism into abject operational failure on the outskirts of the storms. Downpours in New Orleans that flood neighborhoods in minutes and kill power for days, eliminating the convenience of rooftop helipads (and every thing else). So yes, your point is pertinent but we’re talking about nascent, emerging technology - not a Proposition to be voted on.

Take Los Angeles, as mentioned up thread. Fair weather, massive sprawl, very few skyscrapers, gnarly congestion, public transit that does little to help the public. Air taxis would be an amazing development there. When it takes over an hour to go five or six miles on a Sunday afternoon you daydream about flying cars. Having said that, it will require a massive outlay of investment and promotion - and a lot of maverick consumers - before it’s viable. But I guarantee if it was on offer in Los Angeles the service would be overwhelmed immediately.

Although I can’t really comment on auto pilot vs Human pilot, I think like any new tech it will be limited in its application and availability to start and then grow as soon as it can. And I suspect the odds of an air-taxi (whatever that ends up being) crashing into high storey windows and raining shards of glass on people below is less likely than icicles calving off rooftops in the Gold Coast and killing pedestrians. Which, as I’m sure you know, has actually happened.

I wish it weren’t Uber leading this charge but I feel it’s time for this to happen. We completely destroyed light rail and effective public transit in this country and this might be how we can get to sustainable and responsible transit systems. For the elite at first obviously, but it could become ubiquitous before you know it.

 

[aramis]

So we just need to enable the ATC computer to send instructions to the drone/aircraft's computer.

:nonono:

the issue there is that ATC currently isn't automated at all. Still guys at scopes with radios.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Another thing about Los Angeles: almost the entire region is under the Terminal Controlled Air Space of one or another airport.

 

[aramis]

Another thing about Los Angeles: almost the entire region is under the Terminal Controlled Air Space of one or another airport.

So is most of Anchorage and Seattle - but TCA's are inverted wedding cakes in shape. There are large portions of all three that are clear to 1000' AGL.

 

[wellis]

So is most of Anchorage and Seattle - but TCA's are inverted wedding cakes in shape. There are large portions of all three that are clear to 1000' AGL.

You might find this video on helicopter commuting to be interesting. It was something I didn't know about for New York City: https://youtu.be/8nbz5VFilxY

So to me, something like this might come up again.