So I am a student pilot, at the very beginning of a cadet program. I did fly in a decent number of private planes of late, and one thing I keep finding myself saying is, “wow” concerning the newer systems on airplanes.
With that being said and without going into too much detail, I will try to explain my question. First of all to fly an airliner is a different thing. Because you carry a lot of people and a lot of responsibility, also airliners are considerably more complex still, although they are getting simpler to fly as well.
However, if you take a look at an airplane like the Cirrus Vision SF50, do we think it is still as difficult to operate as a plane from 50 years ago with no glass cockpit, only radio navigation and a 500 more switches you need to operate and less reliable engines, possibly radial engines, where your anti ice system was just as likely to start a gas fire as de-ice the surfaces?
A teenager with a drivers license can drive a 700 hp supercar legally, which is arguably as dangerous if not more dangerous if you take that teenager, show him around an SF50 for a day and let them fly.
In an SF50, on a big screen it literally shows you in red where you shouldn’t fly, i.e. the side of a mountain, it tells you if you are going too fast, it can fly to a destination and auto land, throttle is automatic, can land itself with the push of a button and is equipped with a ballistic parachute if all else fails. Security measures that none of which exists in a 700 hp supercar, in which you could hurt yourself or others just as quickly.
What I am asking is, in the near future of aviation, do you think more licenses could be introduced for easier to fly aircraft which would be easier and less expensive to get? As is, you are looking at a quite expensive and quite lengthy period if you want to fly an aircraft like the SF50.
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