There's traffic regulations, for one. Unlike automobiles, these things fly in any direction; left, right, up, down and diagonal.

Not to mention that these things have to tilt in order to turn. Think of the space restraints.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

---

Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Phyrra
I'm bet that you'd be one of the first people to buy a glider though, Aviator
What sort of regulations are aircraft subject to? Apart from flying into things, and landing on top of things...

---

you're right, I wouldn't mind having one of those at all !!!!

As far as regulations goes, as Roarkiller mentioned above, believe it or not there are right of way rules, which is one of the functions of the red/green light you may have noticed on wingtips of airplanes: if another airplane is getting closer to you at night and you see his red light wing tip (the one closer to you), you're supposed to divert behind him, if you see his green wingtip, he's supposed to give you right of way. But that's a small part of right of way rules, some categories (balloons, airplanes, gliders, helicopters, Goodyear blimps, ...) of aircraft have right of way (usually the least maneuverable ones) over others, aircraft about to land have priority, faster aircraft have to divert around (to the right of) slower ones, and aircraft in an emergency have priority over pretty much anything.
There are speed limits depending on the type of airspace you're in. There's also instruments, radios and equipment requirements on board for both visual and instrument flights, and on airspaces around towered airports (the busier the airport, the bigger and more restricted the airspace) you have to talk to, and be controlled by, air traffic control (ATC as we pilots call them). There are minimum visibility and distance from clouds and fuel requirements. There are regulations which pertain to helicopters only, which I imagine would also be applied to VTOL aircraft, and if these would be more maneuverable than helicopters, I'm pretty sure new regulations would have to be made just for them. Obstacle clearance requirements for visual flights (I'm not even going to get into instrument flight!) are probably less restricted for helicopters than for airplanes because helicopters are so much more maneuverable and spend most of their time a lot closer to ground than we do! but if air traffic significantly increases I'd imagine they'd increase restrictions including spacing between aircraft (right now formation flight is perfectly legal) which only aircraft controlled by ATC are subject to (this is a key point isn't it, probably air vehicles of the future would have to be computer flown in busy areas).

All in all, this is also a small part of regulations, mainly pertaining to flight operations. There are also required maintenance and aircraft certification/airworthiness requirements, and another set of regulations governing pilot certification and currency requirements.

I hope I didn't bore you do death, usually regulations are one of the least exiting things about flying, unfortunatelly because they're so important.

__________________

Thank you Aviator ~ wow, I've been given a free flying lesson and a free batman lesson (from SpiritedSen) ~ flying seems alot harder than i first thought...

Actually, i hadn't given it much thought... ATC seem to be really important though ~ I bet it's a tough and stressful job to work for ATC...

What sort of aircraft do you fly, avaitor? Do you have a picture of one?

Sorry for asking so many questions... I hope you don't mind, aviator?

Thanks again for the regulation explanation... i could probably fly my own aeroplane now...

I had always wondered about the lights on wing tips... when I was young, my dad told me the lights were father christmas... *sniff* but now you said that they're not... I always thought Santa was flying by when i saw a red light...is that not true?

*cries*

__________________

Thanks to mpw3d who made ths amazing sig! The avatar was made by Sarah, from www.digik.net

And there's the main problem with flying vehicles in the streets: air traffic controllers.

With the amount of traffic lights out there, how many people do you think need to be employed for this job? It's just not feasible.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

---

Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

---

Actually flying an airplane itself is not hard at all (even a 7 year old could do it), it's the infrastructure of it that can be daunting!

Here's one of the three actual planes I teach out of (they're all the same, Cessna 172's), don't laugh!!! my school's name is Funoutside aviation academy (I couldn't find any other pictures!!!):

That's my home airport too (Fullerton, CA)

I don't mind these questions at all! actually you might have heard (and noticed!) that it's kind of hard to stop a pilot from talking about flying all the time!

Sorry about breaking the news on the red/green lights!!! I'll tell you what, if you ever visit California I'll take you up on a cool sightseeing flight, so just keep looking up to those red lights and someday maybe Santa will let it happen! how's that!?

Roarkiller is right, it would not be feasible, not in a thousand years, unless again, computers will be reliable enough to do everything

__________________

Post last edited by aviator on 07.02.2006, 01:55 AM.

Lol, the picture 'funoutside' made me laugh

How long have you been flying for, aviator?

You're completely right, Roarkiller ~ but perhaps one day, human kind will be mislead enough to use computers to control air traffic completely. Eventually, maybe our lives will be solely in the hands of machines and computers.

After all, we pretty much rely on computers nowadays anyway... is that good or bad??

One day, I will come to California. By then I will have made a fortune, so I'll have bought a private fleet of aircraft... hehe

__________________

Thanks to mpw3d who made ths amazing sig! The avatar was made by Sarah, from www.digik.net

I love how the words of "FUNOUTSIDE" popping out one by one. Coolness LOL.

Anyway it had been my dream to become a pilot, or at least to have a career related to aviation . Unfortunately there is very few related schools or institutes here, not to mention the extravagant fees needed for taking a basic course and renting a plane. While aviation companies hire only the elites in the local public exams.

Oh well, seems like winning a lottery is the only possible way for me to realize my dream.

For the air traffic control, I somehow am wondering if we will have a day when all the traffic lights float in the sky for the flying cars. It would be terrible during the rush hours though: a "bidaily" sun eclipse when the sunlight was being completely blocked by the cloud of cars.

__________________
My light novel review blog: ラノなの！@ novel.co.nr

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jiji For the air traffic control, I somehow am wondering if we will have a day when all the traffic lights float in the sky for the flying cars. It would be terrible during the rush hours though: a "bidaily" sun eclipse when the sunlight was being completely blocked by the cloud of cars.

---

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

---

Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Phyrra
Lol, the picture 'funoutside' made me laugh
How long have you been flying for, aviator?

---

Yeah I knew you would
But anyways I've been flying on and off since 1985.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Phyrra
You're completely right, Roarkiller ~ but perhaps one day, human kind will be mislead enough to use computers to control air traffic completely.

---

That's a good point. I guess in a technologically dependent society there are pros and cons in having computers. I'm not sure if you guys know this but airliners nowadays are pretty much flying robots, from take off to landing, planes can literally fly themselves to (yes, even land at) the destination, short of taxiing to and from the runway, all pilots have to do is punch in the flight plan given to them by the dispatcher and off they go. So the reliability of computers in aviation has achieved a pretty high level of safety (remember the majority of accidents are unfortunatelly pilot error), but to support a society dominated by flying cars it would pretty much have to be 100% perfect

quote:

---

Originally posted by Phyrra
Eventually, maybe our lives will be solely in the hands of machines and computers.After all, we pretty much rely on computers nowadays anyway... is that good or bad??

---

Goods: internet forums , access and organize huge databases, long distance education, navigation (GPS), reduction in paper usage, etc...
Bads: identity theft, viruses, downtime caused by overloads, etc...

__________________

Post last edited by aviator on 07.03.2006, 09:12 AM.