Cirrus_Man wrote:
Yes imagine his surprise when he takes off for the first time after a 30 year coma and finds that actually, not much has changed in 30 years in GA anyway!!
It was almost like that for me. I was completely away from the GA scene for 17 years, and when I returned the only really noticeable difference was the ubiquity of GPS navigators and RNAV.
Yes, I would say that GPS is the only real change in 30 years. Yes other things have been tweaked but I guess the most amazing non developement is that we havent manage to improve much on the engines and airspeed. In fact, with Concorde being decommissioned, he might even think we have gone backwards over 30 years.
Cirrus_Man wrote:
In fact, with Concorde being decommissioned, he might even think we have gone backwards over 30 years.
Concorde gone, Space Shuttle gone, no more real space capacity, we HAVE gone backwards, haven’t we.
Yes, but when it’s about aviation we have only gone back in speed. Look at the B787 and A350 … those are fantastic airplanes with technology that nobody even dreamed of when Concorde was developed.
I would say that GPS is the only real change in 30 years
* some of the new route planning stuff is only a solution to the totally artifically created Brussells power-grab and software-tour-de-force called Eurocontrol… starting about 15 years ago and supported by the likes of Jeppesen whose flight briefing business supported Eurocontrol’s restrictive practices.
GPS has totally transformed the ability to fly to distant places where there is little distinct scenery, or in IMC.
Add:
- TKS
- CAPS/BRS systems
- full compsite airframes with Carbon fibre spars
- glass cockpits for general aviation
- sophisticated autoflight systems (DFC90/100 and GF700)
My first experience with a fully composite airframe having carbon fiber spars was about 35 years ago – the Dragonfly homebuilt was built that way, and I remember very well laying up the spars. Carbon fiber was very novel at the time and it was a very efficient plane, albeit with an unreliable power plant.
My preflight activities haven’t changed a bit over the years, with the exception of where I get the data (Foreflight mostly, versus a phone call for weather). Progress in my view would be nobody ever having to file a flight plan prior to takeoff. The postwar European model of ‘progress’ being accomplished by waves of centrally controlled societal projects is counter to progress in the utility and freedom of GA, regardless of how it conveniently funds the lives of a government supported aristocracy.
I think the 210 is very cool, time warp machines are great and in the car world they tend to fetch big money. I bought my 44 year old plane a few years a ago with about 800 hrs total time… but not in such clean cosmetic condition as the 210 and for a reasonable price.
I would add
– in-flight data services (XM radio/GDL200)
to the innovations. and then there is the experimental / microlight stuff, which has been HUGELY innovative in the last 30 years. There is a composite single engine turboprop with parachute below 2t you can build in under a year!!!
Personally, I don’t think composite materials in certified, powered aircraft made that much of a difference to the end-user. The composite airframes are not lighter, nor more efficient than the riveted aluminium airframes, but probably cheaper to build. In fact – the newer designs are quite heavy.
Examples: SR22, Columbia 400 (four-seaters), Piper Saratoga (six-seater) and Bonanza G36 (six-seater) have (almost) the same MTOW (3,600-3,650 lbs), and do not have fundamentally different performance given power, weight, and cabin cross-section.
That’s an interesting perspective, although i think that (i know it’s true for Cirrus) did get lighter a bit with time. And they should have an aerodynamic advantage when a SR22 is faster than, let’s say, Bonanza with RG. But of course it’s not so much.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Concorde gone, Space Shuttle gone, no more real space capacity, we HAVE gone backwards, haven’t we.
Yes, we have. We have sold our dreams. Our financial crises have destroyed so much money, we could easily pull off dreams of moon bases, journeys to Mars, space vacations, ecological livng and basic research…
