# Pilot prefers drones over manned aircraft



## LimaOscarSierraTango (Oct 20, 2014)

My first thought was, which companies has she invested in?

Then I read:


> “The reason is that drones don’t get tired, [_and are not prone to_] fatigue or emotional distress. They don’t have drinking problems. And with automation, drones themselves do a much better job of keeping the plane at altitude and staying on course.”


and realized she is ignorant and probably hasn't been in a stack or in airspace with at least one UAV.  She also probably hasn't talked to any UAV operators with PTSD. 

With feed delays & degradation, LOS issues, more susceptibility to weather, etc, she is smoking something good to think that UAV's are better than manned aircraft!  Drone operators have the same potential issues as pilots, but pilots have better training when it comes to stressful situations.  Not to mention better comms with the guys on the ground!

This article hurt my head.  I hope she REALLY doesn't believe what is coming out of her mouth.

SOURCE


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## DA SWO (Oct 20, 2014)

Nice boobs.
There i said something nice about her.
She's clueless.  88-99.  Desert Storm (maybe).  Bosnia/Kosovo.
Not the most awesome resume.


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## AWP (Oct 20, 2014)

She's not the most impartial advocate.



> She left the service for academia in 1999 and is currently visiting professor at MIT’s human and automation lab, while she also builds interfaces for unmanned aerial vehicles at Duke University’s Humans and Autonomy Laboratory.


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## Blizzard (Oct 20, 2014)

The article casts her as a "first class" whereas I think they really just meant "first female".  Not to cast too many stones at her because I don't know...but it's interesting that in 1994 a review board recommended her flying status be terminated and her wings removed.  Her supervisors ultimately rejected the recommendation.  It's also important to note that she claimed to be subject to harassment and sabotage during her career, which may or may not have been a contributing factor to the board's recommendation.

All that aside, I think she's more than a bit off base.


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## CDG (Oct 20, 2014)

We had a drone up at an exercise a couple months back.  I was controlling and told the UAS operator to watch a certain road and let me know if he saw any personnel moving along it on ATVs.  We're at our extract site waiting for the 60s to show up when an ATV comes roaring up.  It was range control, but that's beside the point.  About a full minute or two after the ATV has parked next to us and started bullshitting with the Company Commander, I get a call on my radio advising me, and I quote, "You have an ATV approximately 2m to your south".  :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:


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## AWP (Oct 20, 2014)

CDG said:


> About a full minute or two after the ATV has parked next to us and started bullshitting with the Company Commander, I get a call on my radio advising me, and I quote, "You have an ATV approximately 2m to your south".  :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:



This is so stupid I won't even dignify it with clip art. Just string together some profanity and call it a day.

Who do they think they are, ISAF F-16's/ Mirages?


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## Blizzard (Oct 20, 2014)

I know a couple Viper drivers that might just disagree with Missy:





 
(Dos Gringos didn't make the video but they wrote/sing the song; the video was the only version of the song I found online)


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## DA SWO (Oct 20, 2014)

CDG said:


> We had a drone up at an exercise a couple months back.  I was controlling and told the UAS operator to watch a certain road and let me know if he saw any personnel moving along it on ATVs.  We're at our extract site waiting for the 60s to show up when an ATV comes roaring up.  It was range control, but that's beside the point.  About a full minute or two after the ATV has parked next to us and started bullshitting with the Company Commander, I get a call on my radio advising me, and I quote, "You have an ATV approximately 2m to your south".  :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall:




There is a book by one of the first Predator "Pilots", called (wait for it)
Predator.

BOT:  He talks about how clueless so many of the crews (and Intel Managers) are.  Your story is a classic example.
Do you know where the crews who were flying the bird are from?


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## CDG (Oct 20, 2014)

SOWT said:


> Do you know where the crews who were flying the bird are from?



I don't know for sure, but I want to say it was Michigan.


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## Ooh-Rah (Oct 20, 2014)

SOWT said:


> There is a book by one of the first Predator "Pilots", called (wait for it)
> Predator.
> 
> BOT:  He talks about how clueless so many of the crews (and Intel Managers) are.  Your story is a classic example.
> Do you know where the crews who were flying the bird are from?



Hopefully it won't be too bad, seems more like a research/history book than "I was there" type...

Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution by Richard Whittle
*Synopsis*
_The creation of the first weapon in history whose operators can stalk and kill an enemy on the other side of the globe was far more than clever engineering. As Richard Whittle shows in Predator , it was one of the most profound developments in the history of military and aerospace technology. Once considered fragile toys, drones were long thought to be of limited utility. The Predator itself was resisted at nearly every turn by the military establishment, but a few iconoclasts refused to see this new technology smothered at birth. The remarkable cast of characters responsible for developing the Predator includes a former Israeli inventor who turned his Los Angeles garage into a drone laboratory, two billionaire brothers marketing a futuristic weapon to help combat Communism, a pair of fighter pilots willing to buck their white-scarf fraternity, a cunning Pentagon operator nicknamed "Snake," and a secretive Air Force organization known as Big Safari. When an Air Force team unleashed the first lethal drone strikes in 2001 for the CIA, the military's view of drones changed nearly overnight. Based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews, Predator reveals the dramatic inside story of the creation of a revolutionary weapon that forever changed the way we wage war and opened the door to a new age in aviation._


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## DA SWO (Oct 20, 2014)

Ooh-Rah said:


> Hopefully it won't be too bad, seems more like a research/history book than "I was there" type...
> 
> Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution by Richard Whittle
> *Synopsis*
> _The creation of the first weapon in history whose operators can stalk and kill an enemy on the other side of the globe was far more than clever engineering. As Richard Whittle shows in Predator , it was one of the most profound developments in the history of military and aerospace technology. Once considered fragile toys, drones were long thought to be of limited utility. The Predator itself was resisted at nearly every turn by the military establishment, but a few iconoclasts refused to see this new technology smothered at birth. The remarkable cast of characters responsible for developing the Predator includes a former Israeli inventor who turned his Los Angeles garage into a drone laboratory, two billionaire brothers marketing a futuristic weapon to help combat Communism, a pair of fighter pilots willing to buck their white-scarf fraternity, a cunning Pentagon operator nicknamed "Snake," and a secretive Air Force organization known as Big Safari. When an Air Force team unleashed the first lethal drone strikes in 2001 for the CIA, the military's view of drones changed nearly overnight. Based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews, Predator reveals the dramatic inside story of the creation of a revolutionary weapon that forever changed the way we wage war and opened the door to a new age in aviation._


Different book.
Predator by Matt J. martin (AF LtCol) and Charles W. sasser (gag, almost didn't buy the book because of Sasser's involvement).


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## CDG (Oct 21, 2014)

SOWT said:


> Different book.
> Predator by Matt J. martin (AF LtCol) and Charles W. sasser (gag, almost didn't buy the book because of Sasser's involvement).


 
What's the deal with Sasser?


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## DA SWO (Oct 21, 2014)

CDG said:


> What's the deal with Sasser?


I feel Sasser overstated his Military experiences when he first started writing books.  I'll have to find one of his older books (if I still have it) to get specifics.


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## DA SWO (Oct 21, 2014)

SOWT said:


> I feel Sasser overstated his Military experiences when he first started writing books.  I'll have to find one of his older books (if I still have it) to get specifics.


This is the book that really turned me off.

http://www.amazon.com/Always-Warrio...Y_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413905088&sr=1-14

He counts being a war correspondent (or observer as I view them) the same as being a participant.


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## 0699 (Oct 21, 2014)

LimaOscarSierraTango said:


> “The reason is that drones don’t get tired, [_and are not prone to_] fatigue or emotional distress. They don’t have drinking problems. And with automation, drones themselves do a much better job of keeping the plane at altitude and staying on course.”


 
She makes them sound like _The Terminator_.  I think Sarah Conner used the same words.  James Cameron should sue her for "theft of character". 



CDG said:


> I get a call on my radio advising me, and I quote, "You have an ATV approximately 2m to your south".


 
One of my favorite quotes from a guy on the ground to the inbound helicopter was "_I'm directly under the sun..... NOW_!!"


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## CDG (Oct 21, 2014)

SOWT said:


> I feel Sasser overstated his Military experiences when he first started writing books.  I'll have to find one of his older books (if I still have it) to get specifics.



Copy.  Thanks for the clarification.  I had zero idea about any of that.  Definitely sours my views on his books.


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## Viper1 (Oct 24, 2014)

It's not about what the pilot prefers.  It's about what the guy on the ground being supported prefers....and I think @lindy and @Squidward and @shortbrownguy will agree:  A MANNED F****ING AIRCRAFT; preferably with guns, rockets, missiles, bombs, and radios; all day, every day.


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## shortbrownguy (Oct 25, 2014)

Viper1 said:


> It's not about what the pilot prefers.  It's about what the guy on the ground being supported prefers....and I think @lindy and @Squidward and @shortbrownguy will agree:  A MANNED F****ING AIRCRAFT; preferably with guns, rockets, missiles, bombs, and radios; all day, every day.


And twice on Sunday...

SBG sends.


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## Squidward (Oct 26, 2014)

"Hey bro Hog just checked out. All we have now is ISR."

-"So basically nothing right?"

"You got it....."


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