nmflyguy,

By your logic, we should all have full IFR instrumentation and full redundancy in ALL airplanes, even the simplest and NO pilot should be permitted to fly unless he/she is IFR qualified AND experienced. Otherwise, they might get themselves into something they desperately need to get out of, but they don't have the equipment or the skills.

One of the things that pilots are SUPPOSED to possess and exercise on EVERY flight is judgement. Sadly, that isn't always the case. That said, I could easily see a lot of folks flying in weather they have no business airborne in because they have some magic box. Good luck with that.

Flying an airplane via IR would be a LOT more challenging than flying in crappy weather under IFR.

As to your argument regarding departing in the dark to get out of somewhere, if it's that bad, call for an evac. A lot of THOSE folks fly on night vision goggles, which is the appropriate tool for that job, NOT FLIR. Ask any helicopter pilot who flies a lot at night which they use for night flight--NVG's or FLIR.

MTV

mtv wrote:nmflyguy,

By your logic, we should all have full IFR instrumentation and full redundancy in ALL airplanes, even the simplest and NO pilot should be permitted to fly unless he/she is IFR qualified AND experienced. Otherwise, they might get themselves into something they desperately need to get out of, but they don't have the equipment or the skills.

One of the things that pilots are SUPPOSED to possess and exercise on EVERY flight is judgement. Sadly, that isn't always the case. That said, I could easily see a lot of folks flying in weather they have no business airborne in because they have some magic box. Good luck with that.

Flying an airplane via IR would be a LOT more challenging than flying in crappy weather under IFR.

As to your argument regarding departing in the dark to get out of somewhere, if it's that bad, call for an evac. A lot of THOSE folks fly on night vision goggles, which is the appropriate tool for that job, NOT FLIR. Ask any helicopter pilot who flies a lot at night which they use for night flight--NVG's or FLIR.

MTV

MTV - who said I am using logic?

btw - I was not suggesting what you say I suggested concerning IFR capability. I was just saying that lots of panel technology - especially newer stuff like GPS - can really help a pilot develop and maintain better situational awareness, which is always a good thing, no matter what kind of flying one does ... even in VFR conditions.

Also not defending bad judgment, and like most pilots I think I use pretty good judgment most of the time, but nobody is 100% perfect. And whenever things don't go according to plan, it's always nice to have a tool or tools that might just let you live another day to develop better judgment.

As the old saying goes, "Q1: How does a pilot make for a long career in aviation? A: Develop good judgment Q2: How does a pilot develop good judgment? A2: By occasionally using bad judgment (and learning from it)."

A seeing eye dog would be better than all the night vision stuff I've tried, and probably wouldn't much like trusting my life to either technology, but I still think FLIR would be kinda fun to play with. If they get down to $100 bucks, I'll let ya know.

On a similar subject, has anyone ever been flying at altitude (say 9000'- 10,000') at night, for any length of time, then tried oxygen?

Anyone here have experience with the Gen 1 Night Vision stuff? I see they are getting cheap and I have wanted some night vision goggles since I talked to a friends brother. He flew Blackhawks in Iraq and he said 99% of his flying was at night. I'm sure what he was using is out of my price range but I thought a set of older night vision goggles might be good to keep in the plane for night emergencies.

Coyote Ugly wrote:
On a similar subject, has anyone ever been flying at altitude (say 9000'- 10,000') at night, for any length of time, then tried oxygen?

Ask your son. About last year some time he flew my plane from Reno to Caldwell at night pretty high up (I'm thinking 10.5). He said he picked up some awesome tailwinds up there. Don't think he had oxygen with him, though.

CU,

Yep, I did that once on a flight from ANC to FAI at 11,000. Pretty amazing. Gen III Night Vision goggles are pretty amazing. Earlier versions I would NOT want to try to fly with, and in any case, it does require some training and special instrument lighting in the A/C. Fun to play with, though, as is FLIR.

MTV