What is the definition of REAL pilot?

[Lake_Flyer]

This hobby is about enjoyment after all.

Wow, in the 'heat' of the discussion I tend to forget that most people here are 'operating' their smartphone drone for fun and nothing else. For them this isn't a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), but just another expensive toy, bought after a 'Hey I want that too' realisation. And that of course dismisses them to have to think of themselves as being a pilot. And if they do, indeed they aren't and never will be. They are boys with toys. Shoot! (slamming myself in he face) I can see that now (bit late but better late than never).

I keep forgetting I'm on the Mavic forum, been too long on the Inspire forum.

Thanks everybody, wonderful discussion.
It wasn't useless for me at all

I gained yet again some extra insights for when I have to explain my customers why they should hire a professional RPAS/UAV pilot instead of a hobbyist.

Ironically the revelation is all for me so it turns out. I'm starting to feel alone here.
I'm switching back to background lurking. I only want info on Mavic related stuff anyway.

Bye now.

 

[2nckayakers]

[QUOTE=". And all these apply for a (full licensed) commercial UAV pilot, except for the G's in the butt.[/QUOTE] I was with you until you got to the "full licensed" part. There are some of us that don't have our 107 yet but are working towards that. Just because we don't have our 107 doesn't mean we don't do the same things. I got in a very heated discussion with someone on here about a month ago just because I ask the question of who looked at NOTAMS as part of their flight planning. Not that I am not spending 5 hours planning to take my Mavic out in the field behind my house for a 27 minute flight, but I live close to 2 military air bases and within 5 miles of a regional airport. It is very important safety wise that I have situational awareness, that I understand the airspace around me, that I know what the traffic patterns are for all three of those fields and that I know when changes occur that may restrict me from flying in my back yard. Do I push the envelope a little at times, definitely, but when I do it at least I think about it and plan a little before doing so. It helps that I had formal flight training very early in my life, and like you I never got my PPL but not because I wasn't capable of doing so, it just got very expensive and wasn't worth it anymore.

 

[PDXteriors]

You're only truly a pilot when you start using autistic acronyms for everything.

 

[cptlores]

If the plane, multirotor, helicopter whatever needs constant control input to take off, stay in up the air and land successfully, then you are in fact piloting it. But when it comes to GPS enabled drones, you are just pointing in the direction you want them to go. Do you call yourself a driver when you sit in the back seat and tell the taxi where to drive?

 

[Owen Manderfield]

Do you call yourself a driver when you sit in the back seat and tell the taxi where to drive?

No - becsuse there is another human involved.

But if my voice commands are controlling my car directly then - yes I'm driving the car.

It's the high level decisions of where, how and when to fky/drive/sale that make you the pilot/driver.

You don't demote a driver of car just becsuse it's an automatic - "You can't be a driver becsuse you're not changing the gears yourself - you need to double-de-clutch before you can call yourself a driver". "You can't be a drone pilot if your not flying in ATTI mode" or "You can't be a pilot until you have no flying aids"

 

[2nckayakers]

If the plane, multirotor, helicopter whatever needs constant control input to take off, stay in up the air and land successfully, then you are in fact piloting it. But when it comes to GPS enabled drones, you are just pointing in the direction you want them to go. Do you call yourself a driver when you sit in the back seat and tell the taxi where to drive?

So for the sake of argument here, if a commercial pilot punches in all of the numbers into the flight computer, once he turns the thing on in the air does he cease to be the pilot in command? He isn't flying the plane anymore so shouldn't we call him the aircraft operator once he takes his hands off the controls? Or what about planes that can land themselves (and one day will be able to take off themselves) would the person in the cockpit pushing buttons and entering data into the computer just be a Data Entry Technician?

And I know where you all are going to go with this saying well if all that fails he needs to be able to put his hands on the controls and take over manually, but technically he isn't really doing that either since everything now is fly by wire and all the controls do is send input to a computer that actually moves the control surfaces. We can go on forever back and forth in these discussions defending or arguing.

Personally I don't give a rats, because with all the electronics and autopilots and gps navigation, etc. your only a real pilot if you are flying a Stearman. LOL

 

[cptlores]

The day the pilot no longer have the ability to take over control and fly manually, he is no longer a pilot and has become a navigator instead.

 

[MrsTreat]

+1 to that above. The only reason I started this thread was because of a couple of airplane pilots on this site who were coming across as condescending ___CKS because they were "real pilots" and members of this forum were just silly "boys with toys" who had to stop calling themselves "pilots". "Hey, that's my word! You can't have it! I fly a real plane!"

My father was a C-130 pilot for 28 years (USAF) and flew in two wars, so in MY mind, HE is a real pilot, and what I do with my mavic absolutely cannot be compared to what he does (did).

I just wanted to point out that, technically, according to the dictionary in it's current form, we are considered a type of pilot. More importantly, it's just a word, and anyone who considers themselves "Holier Than Thou" because of a TITLE or a label probably has Daddy Issues.

The only time I refer to myself as a "pilot" is when I'm on this forum trading info or swapping stories with other Geeks like me who love this hobby. And I do consider the mavic to be my favorite toy.

Now I have to go eat breakfast and get dressed for work. (SEE? I'm also a Chef and a Fashion Designer.)

Thanks to your Dad!

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

+1 to that above. The only reason I started this thread was because of a couple of airplane pilots on this site who were coming across as condescending ___CKS because they were "real pilots" and members of this forum were just silly "boys with toys" who had to stop calling themselves "pilots". "Hey, that's my word! You can't have it! I fly a real plane!"

You need to realize that these guys have a MASSIVE inferiority complex. Anyone who feels the need to denigrate a whole group of fun-loving hobbiist to pump themselves up. My guess is they get picked on by real pilots who fly airliners or jets because they fly little Cesna toys. Poop flows downhill! LOL

 

[FatherXmas]

Mavic is basically a 2 year old tech cellphone camera on a really large tripod you can move in all directions.
It requires absolutely no knowledge of aviation, aerodynamics or similar to operate. It requires no skill what-so-ever to operate.
You're operating a computer which shields you from having to do any actual flying.

No skill??? Really?? Then why all the posts about pilot error causing a crash? I most certainly does take a great deal of skill to fly and produce great videos.

 

[PDXteriors]

Droner sounds insanely lame. I prefer pilot as it makes the autistic angry

 

[2nckayakers]

I agree with you fatherXmas, it does take skill. That is why you practice practice practice! (this isn't directed at you but for those, and they know who they are) You look beyond the horizon. You know what airports are around you. You know what airspace you are flying in, around and under. You notify airports when required. You find out about any TFRs where you are planning on flying. You know what else you are flying near around and over You stay within the rules and keep a VLOS. And for those times when you DON'T follow the rules (and everyone does it and anyone that says they have never flown a single time out of VLOS or above 400 agl is lying) but when you do that you make sure you did everything mentioned previously and you are prepared to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY if something goes wrong and you cause damage to someone else's property or hurt someone.

To all those "real pilots" with the egos and the constant badgering that we are being unsafe, what is the fatal accident rate of private planes to airliners versus drones to any kind of plane? NAME ONE! That is legitimate anyway. And don't go throwing out the un substantiated claims or the CG videos on Youtube. Show us just one fatal accident that was caused by a drone flying into a plane.

When was the last time you heard of a person killing someone while trying to take a selfie with a drone? Hummm? Let's see about private pilots though what about the 2014 fatal crash of a private pilot in Denver where taking a selfie contributed to the crash. How many drone pilots fell asleep at the controls with 140 passengers on board? hummm.... May of this year a Delta Air Lines 767-400 had the pilot fall asleep and they had to send freaking F-16s up to wake him up! How many drone pilots crashed and killed themselves or a passenger while trying to join the mile high club? hummm December 1991 in Florida directly from the FAA report: "The pilot in command's improper in-flight decision to divert her attention to other activities not related to the conduct of the flight. [The pilot and co-pilot were having sex, and nobody was flying the plane.] Contributing to the accident was the exceeding of the design limits of the airplane leading to a wing failure. [The lack of a pilot caused the plane to fly erratically, over-stressing the wing and leading to a crash."

So don't give us that holier than thou attitude. There are bad airplane pilots out there and there are bad UAV pilots out there.

 

[UAVMan]

Okay so we all agree, there's pilots and then PILOTS.... ??! [emoji23]

 

[UAVMan]

 

[Stunnajd112]

When people argue if we're "real" pilots I give them this look. #justfly

 

[FlybyWyre]

I am officially a pilot and have been accepted as such all over the world.
As far as aeroplanes are concerned my experience is about 10 minutes in control of a Cessna with an instructor and the same in a 2 man glider (sailplane)
My piloting over the last 30 plus years was with remote control underwater robotics with a 3500m umbilical.
I am certain there are a number of similar 'pilots' that now have MPs.
There are similarities in flying a multi million dollar ROV and flying a $1000 Mavic.
Firstly the automation and computer control should never be totally relied upon and the ability to take control when the system is either damaged or the software acts a little crazy is paramount.
Density of water is much higher than air so things happen considerably slower but the principle is the same only the opposite way round.
Down first and up to land!
Automation is a very useful tool.
I believe an airliner is very automated and the pilot is a pilot rather than a machine operator when he is trained to take control if and when the technology or environment goes wrong.
I guess the same could be said for a drone.
Just a thought.

 

[Classic flyer]

Call me old fashioned, but I decided to use a dictionary...

pi·lot
ˈpīlət/
noun 1. a person who operates the flying controls of an aircraft.


air·craft
ˈerˌkraft/
noun 1. an airplane, helicopter, or other machine capable of flight


SO, assuming that we can all agree that the mavic is a "machine capable of flight", then if you fly a mavic, YOU ARE A PILOT, according to Webster's Dictionary.

Case Closed. The Fat Lady has sung.

Right-on brother that's what a pilot is...love the video

 

[Brice LeCarre]

You're only truly a pilot when you start using autistic acronyms for everything.

That's funny

 

[Skychs]

You guys are funny. I'm sure the definition of "pilot" was defined way before the popularity and use of drones. Inclusive as it my be now I hardly think you can compare it to maned flight where you are personally in the aircraft ..... solo or with hundred of passengers behind you. The skills and responsibility are just not the same. If I need to explain it further than that just keep telling yourself your a pilot. ‍

 

[Brice LeCarre]

NASCAR drivers are pilots.
the word pilot is adequate for drone pilots. Air Force drone operators are drone pilots. It is the qualifier before that says what kind of pilot you are; fighter pilot, airline pilot, aerobatic pilot, airshow pilot, stunt pilot, drone pilot and so on. It does not matter what you call yourselves. What matters is, are you having fun?