

Navy stealth bomber drone  (Source: IBtimes)
Navy stealth drone take to the skies










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RE: unmanned bombers
By Iaiken on 2/10/2011 6:33:22 PM , Rating: 2
It's a lot more complicated than that... :P

I held a glider license from when I was 16 till 26 and the amount of learning was not only ridiculous, but gave me a much better idea of the forces at work in flight than powered flight would. Having flown several prop driven aircraft a few times, it's a trivial challenge in comparison to unpowered flight.

I can only guess how large of a quantum leap moving from simple powered flight to jet fighter aircraft would be considering the speed and extreme maneuvers they are capable of. Especially when you add in adverse conditions and the stresses of combat.

Most the of the avionic information that I learned through ground-school and practice at that age was only not beyond me because I was working through first year university physics at the time. I doubt that your average "some kid playing xbox" would be able to take a similar grasp of the concepts. Choosing university grads is mostly because they will have the intellectual base required for these concepts and a maturity level that allows the military to feel comfortable with entrusting a multi-million dollar aircraft to their hands.

RE: unmanned bombers
By nafhan on 2/11/2011 11:46:18 AM , Rating: 2
Interestingly, I've got a similar level of flight experience (gliders + a couple powered flights), and I've probably got a better theoretical understanding of physics than classmates who did become pilots.
I generally agree with you, too. I was more making fun of the fact that a lot of pilots really don't have a degree in a field related to piloting aircraft. It's pretty normal for those wanting to become military pilots to get a degree just to satisfy the requirement that they have a bachelors degree.
If I was going to pick an attribute that's actually most important to being a pilot, it would definitely be attention to detail - noticing the little things that could potentially become a big problem.


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