Reading Neil Armstrong’s obit in the New York Times led to an unexpected epiphany: As the inaugural pioneers, the collective public faces of singular accomplishments achieved during the first century of powered flight pass, what events of equivalent magnitude will follow them in its second century? And will humans have a hands-on role equal to Armstrong’s?
Achieving a singular first during flight’s first century was comparatively easy because no one preceded the successful pioneer. The brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, powered their way skyward. Charles Lindbergh flew the Atlantic, solo and unrefueled. Jimmy Doolittle took off, flew a pattern, and landed without a way to look outside. Yuri Gagarin opened the door to space travel and Neil Armstrong walked through it on the moon.
The passage of time lists the pioneers who will be next. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yager circled the globe without refueling the Voyager in 1986, and Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones repeated the voyage in an aerostat in 1999.
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GA pilots can become addicted to cockpit automation just as easily as their airline peers. What makes this worse is that unlike airline pilots, who must fly according to thick and specific operations manuals, GA pilots consciously chose to become addicted. And they’ve been doing that ever since glass-controlled started taking up residence in GA cockpits.