6 ms·

Yeah, the B-52, adopted in 1952, is planned to be is service through the 2050s. An airframe design expected to last for over 100 years. Keep in mind that fligh

Yeah, the B-52, adopted in 1952, is planned to be is service through the 2050s. An airframe design expected to last for over 100 years. Keep in mind that flight itself is barely 100 years old. And paper manuals? Are they expecting to use iPads for in flight documents or something? Shall we compare failure states of paper vs tablets?

TylerE 8y ago
There are still DC-3s from the early '30s in service.
- Aloha 8y ago
  The old saying is "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3" Though I think most of them that are flying are C-47's from the war era.
tedivm 8y ago
That article says that other plans will display the error and the recommended checklist automatically, which certainly seems faster than flipping through a bunch of books trying to find a specific page based off of some lights.
- ReptileMan 8y ago
  A lecturer of mine once said - knowing what kind of people we teach here for programmers, I am scared of going to the doctor. The less software is in something(and less cloudy/iot) the better. And the more I program the more I prefer stupid and mechanical things when reliability is on the line. A paper manual is always there for you.
  - dehrmann 8y ago
    > And the more I program the more I prefer stupid and mechanical things when reliability is on the line. Magic is great. Until it's not.
  - ehnto 8y ago
    The app for my bicycle computer will be obsolete before my bike. On the other hand, my car computer has been running flawlessly for 25 years without any updates.
    - bouncycastle 8y ago
      There's an old joke, if Microsoft made cars... https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/pnw/microsoftjoke.htm https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/pnw/microsoftjoke.htm
  - JauntyHatAngle 8y ago
    >A paper manual is always there for you. Then have the paper manual as a choice and/or backup. If the programmers working on aircraft are so incompetent that they can't get a the digital manual correct, than they have no business programming any of the other multitude of systems that are critical to fly-by-wire systems.
    - huffmsa 8y ago
      And the time it takes to realize your iPad has run out of battery or you accidentally open an advertisement before grabbing your paper manual is too long. The manuals have never been an issue. In fact, having a physical, rigorous checklist has been shown to improve the likely hood of a successful outcome.
      - ec109685 8y ago
        It has to be physical for the checklist to work?
      - tyingq 8y ago
        iPad (and others) based electronic flight bags are already in place on passenger airlines. Your points are valid, but the debate is pretty much over.
tyingq 8y ago
"And paper manuals? Are they expecting to use iPads for in flight documents or something? Shall we compare failure states of paper vs tablets?" That cat is already out of the bag. "According to the FAA, Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 EFB may act as a substitute for the paper manuals that pilots are otherwise required to carry with them. " https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_flight_bag https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_flight_bag
cryptonector 8y ago
Actually, yes, lots of pilots prefer ipads. They are lighter, for one, and for many tasks faster than paging through paper.
- jaclaz 8y ago
  >They are lighter, for one, and for many tasks faster than paging through paper. And are them in your opinion also as reliable as paper manuals?
  - cryptonector 8y ago
    No, they're not. They can run out of battery, have OS issues, and so on.

TylerE 8y ago

There are still DC-3s from the early '30s in service.

Aloha 8y ago
The old saying is "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3" Though I think most of them that are flying are C-47's from the war era.

tedivm 8y ago

That article says that other plans will display the error and the recommended checklist automatically, which certainly seems faster than flipping through a bunch of books trying to find a specific page based off of some lights.

ReptileMan 8y ago
A lecturer of mine once said - knowing what kind of people we teach here for programmers, I am scared of going to the doctor. The less software is in something(and less cloudy/iot) the better. And the more I program the more I prefer stupid and mechanical things when reliability is on the line. A paper manual is always there for you.
- dehrmann 8y ago
  > And the more I program the more I prefer stupid and mechanical things when reliability is on the line. Magic is great. Until it's not.
- ehnto 8y ago
  The app for my bicycle computer will be obsolete before my bike. On the other hand, my car computer has been running flawlessly for 25 years without any updates.
  - bouncycastle 8y ago
    There's an old joke, if Microsoft made cars... https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/pnw/microsoftjoke.htm https://www.hcs.harvard.edu/pnw/microsoftjoke.htm
- JauntyHatAngle 8y ago
  >A paper manual is always there for you. Then have the paper manual as a choice and/or backup. If the programmers working on aircraft are so incompetent that they can't get a the digital manual correct, than they have no business programming any of the other multitude of systems that are critical to fly-by-wire systems.
  - huffmsa 8y ago
    And the time it takes to realize your iPad has run out of battery or you accidentally open an advertisement before grabbing your paper manual is too long. The manuals have never been an issue. In fact, having a physical, rigorous checklist has been shown to improve the likely hood of a successful outcome.
    - ec109685 8y ago
      It has to be physical for the checklist to work?
    - tyingq 8y ago
      iPad (and others) based electronic flight bags are already in place on passenger airlines. Your points are valid, but the debate is pretty much over.

tyingq 8y ago

"And paper manuals? Are they expecting to use iPads for in flight documents or something? Shall we compare failure states of paper vs tablets?" That cat is already out of the bag. "According to the FAA, Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 EFB may act as a substitute for the paper manuals that pilots are otherwise required to carry with them. " https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_flight_bag https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_flight_bag

cryptonector 8y ago

Actually, yes, lots of pilots prefer ipads. They are lighter, for one, and for many tasks faster than paging through paper.

jaclaz 8y ago
>They are lighter, for one, and for many tasks faster than paging through paper. And are them in your opinion also as reliable as paper manuals?
- cryptonector 8y ago
  No, they're not. They can run out of battery, have OS issues, and so on.