Letters: Steamed
Glass versus analog
I spent 35 years as a strategic information technology consultant. I was heavily involved in the 1980s with the human engineering research conducted by the Palo Alto Research Center resulting in the development of graphical user interfaces (GUI). Research and history has proven GUIs are more user-friendly and lead to higher productivity. This silly “steam gauge versus glass cockpit” conversation is the same one had by information technology in the 1980s. You will be hard-pressed to find anyone today who depends on or even uses character-oriented or analog computer interfaces.
Aviation in the United States needs to come into the twenty-first century and stop worshiping steam gauges and outdated technology as anything other than museum items and antiques. Glass cockpits appropriately equipped are safer, more efficient, and more reliable than traditional gauges. Let’s throw the manual E6B and the slide rule and Morse code and the sextant into that museum warehouse also.
As a new pilot getting an up-close look at this forest for the first time, aviation in general seems to me to be unreasonably stuck in the 1940s, and don’t get me started on the FAA. After all, aren’t student pilots learning for the future?
John Ridley
Decatur, Georgia
Getting there
I really liked Ian J. Twombly’s common-sense approach to flying other than a straight line in his November 2016 Flight Training piece, “More Ways Than One.” The parts about safety, airspace, and terrain make lots of sense to me, a New England pilot, because the Northeast has all of those issues in abundance. With route deviations, it reminded me of the times I’ve turned it into a pleasant experience for passengers either by a lunch stop or by taking them on a more scenic route. An advantage I try to add is alternative landing points, aka airports. This reassures passengers, and it also allows me to relax a little bit more knowing I’m never very far away from an airport. Thank you for this article.
Steven Wightman
Lexington, Massachusetts
Errata
We incorrectly identified colleges associated with the Aviation Accreditation Board International in the December 2016 College Aviation Directory. Those schools listed are members, and are not necessarily accredited by AABI. For a current list of AABI accredited institutions, go online.
“Jack Frost” (December 2016 Flight Training) incorrectly stated that 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 40 degrees Celsius are the same. The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales meet at minus 40 degrees.
Flight Training regrets the errors.
