Mxsmanic wrote:
This article is strongly slanted in favor of new
stability-augmentation gadgets for light aircraft:

http://www.flyingmag.com/blogs/going...-your-airplane

Not surprisingly, Cirrus is installing the gadget first, and Garmin
is writing the poorly-tested software for it.

Apparently the author does not understand the distinction between
flying for fun and flying for transportation. The pilot who flies for
fun is unlikely to want a computer to fly for him, no matter how well
the computer does it or how safe the computer can make things. A
pilot who flies for transportation might welcome more computer
control. But putting gadgets like this on every light aircraft makes
no sense. Sure, it might improve safety, but so would automating the
entire flight, giving the pilot no control at all--and yet complete
automation of flights would defeat the purpose of flying for many
hobby pilots.

This is sort of like saying that electronic stabilisation systems common in
todays cars take all the fun out of driving. Sure they do, if you're trying
to skid sideways on a frozen lake or push the envelope on a racetrack. But
flying for fun, just like driving for recreational reasons, rather seldomly
involves going to the edge like that. I guess that 99% of drivers never even
notice any override from the electronics unless they are about to loose
control of their car. In which case they will be very thankful for having
them aboard. The fun neither in driving nor in flying is in loosing control.
ESP undenieably saved thousands of lifes, and the conceived systems for
airplanes could possibly do the same.

Just like in cars electronic systems can also outperform humans in airplanes
when it comes to tasks involving very rapid an precise reactions. No need to
feel embarrassed about that. There is really not much point in arguing about
stability systems taking away authority from the pilot. Remember how pilots
first detested the stall prevention systems implemented by airbus? Not one
case has been proven, where a system override over the pilots stick input
has been to the worse and caused an undesireable result.

And just like ESP on a car I would imagine that the stability augmentation
systems in airplanes could be disabled if you intendedly want to push the
envelope of your plane and know what you are doing.

regards,
Friedrich