Hi Patrick,

I love your ariticles.. I am a terrified flyer - Xanax is my best friend on a plane. I would love for you to be the pilot on a flight I'm on. Thanks so much for all your input. I enjoy it so much.

Jenny

I'm another nervous flyer -- though I conquered the major terror with valium and vodka -- and your columns also provide me with some knowledge and comfort. Thank you.

Welcome back to the cockpit! Please keep writing. :-)

Nice story. Sorry your first leg had to be so... interesting. At least now you won't wonder how you'll handle your first real IFR approach. I wish you lots of straight-ins under tropical CAVU skies. Stay ahead of the aircraft.

"Nobody's pushing for doctorless hospitals[.]"

What a number of entities are pushing for, however, is increased use of automated systems for medical decision-making. In fact, some studies of such systems have shown that in particular contexts they make better decisions in the aggregate than doctors.

"Why why why the fuck would anybody want a pilotless plane?" indeed!

When I hear such talk I know the consumers are being had again...that it's the gleaming-eyed zeal of owners lusting after the excision from their books of yet another expense...more salaries to be wiped out, more profit to be nickel and dimed for themselves at the expense of all the rest of us.

Hell, I live in New York and when I hear talk of robot subway trains, no live person aboard--save, maybe, MAYBE, a conductor--I think, "these greedy fucks don't care about rider safety, and the city fathers who are willing to allow such a plan to go forward are obviously bought off lackeys." I've never heard any riders say they think driverless trains are a good idea.

I'm sure pilotless airplanes would be several orders of magnitude more difficult to realize, if even possible at all. And if the owners of the airlines want to see an exodus of travelers to rail travel, let them announce "For your convenience, we have...PILOTLESS PLANES! No longer will you have to endure the tedium of a pilot's announcements to the cabin, no longer will you suffer the worries that the pilot might be sleep-deprived, hungover, drunk, or crazy. You can relax and know that our computerized cockpit will take you thousands of feet into the air at speeds of hundreds of miles and throw you down to the ground without possibility of human error endangering you. A NEW ERA IN FLIGHT ENJOYMENT AND SAFETY HAS ARRIVED!"

I don't really like flying nowadays, but your article was such an exiting read - and strangely, quite comforting - that I might try it again!

announce that the plane is being flown by Patrick Smith of "Ask the Pilot" fame, if for no other reason than so that should I happen to be on one of your flights, I can give you a giant hug as I walk out for making me much, much less of a wreck than I used to be while on a plane. Maybe I should just hug all pilots n principle. They would love that, right? Totally lovable?

Also, why why why the fuck would anybody want a pilotless plane?? what if your plane's computer has some kind of HAL moment or just plain crashes or something? why would you want to be in an unmanned tube at 35,000 feet? Some folks here in new York are angling for a subway driven soley by robots - a terrifying idea in my book. I mean, if nothing else, if the train goes kaput I'd like to think there's somebody onboard with a fucking FLASHLIGHT and a little bit of subway tunnel know-how. And that's just a subway. Now think that times a million.

I've only been on a jet twice in my life and that's two times too many. I'd walk to New York (from Oregon) rather than get on another. However, I'm a avid reader of your column and look forward to it every Friday. Congratulations on getting back in the saddle and I hope you keep writing the column. Armchair flying with you gives me a taste of flying without the terror.

"I always thought flying was nothing but miserable drudgery, hard work, airsickness, boring holding patterns, near death experiences, Iraqi bullets, and dead friends"

When I was younger, I wanted to learn to fly. One day I actually arranged to go up in a 2 seater glider. I imagined it would be an exhilarating thrill, a taste of freedom. In reality, it was extremely tense and unpleasant. As for being a commercial pilot, jet-lag alone is enough to put me off that idea. I take over a week to get back to normal after a trip to China. I guess the truth is you have to love what you do. As Confucius said, "find what you love to do and you will never work another day in your life". For me, that's a 9 to 5 office job. For others, it means piloting a plane halfway around the world. Good thing people are different. Best of luck, Patrick, and glad to see you back to what you love to do.

Says a reader below...

<< Many times I've felt like the proverbial BB in a boxcar while flying, except for the seatbelt holding me to the seat. This is the first time I've ever visualized what the pilot(s) are going through during turbulent landing. >>

Actually, I think a couple of my earlier articles on the subject of turbulence describe it much better. Try these if you'd like...

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/11/03/askthepilot207/

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/11/10/askthepilot208/

- Patrick Smith

Asks the reader below...

<< Wouldn't you feel better if they had put you through a few touch-and-go landings before your first scheduled flight? Just one or two hours of practice, in a small plane, if need be Just to get the feel of it. >>

No. That's what the simulator is for, and as I wrote in last week's column, the realism of a full motion sim is astonishing. I am perfectly comfortable going directly from the simulator to the plane. The plane is easy by comparison.

- Patrick Smith

As usual, Patrick. I had my mouse in a death-grip during that descent into NY.

The Yonder has never seemed wilder-- or bluer!

Nice essay for a non-pilot like me.

Actually raised my comfort level.

I was reminded of one of the best books ever on commercial aviation in the early days: "Fate is the Hunter" by E Gann.

Good to know you are back on trade. But I confess I am more than a little worried to learn that airlines will hand a planeload of passengers, in the middle of a hurricane, to a pilot who has not landed a real aircraft in six years (any pilot, of course - nothing personal!).

Wouldn't you feel better if they had put you through a few touch-and-go landings before your first scheduled flight? Just one or two hours of practice, in a small plane, if need be (costs, always)? Just to get the feel of it.

I know tech people do not put much value in the advice of plain common sense. But somehow I get the impression that airlines (and pilots) rely too much on their ultra-structured procedures and almost-the-real-thing simulators. And forget to worry about simple things.

Anyway, congratulations, and I hope you will go on writing. I am an air traveller with conflicting views about air travel - I hugely enjoy it, sometimes, but lately I have often dreaded it. But your pieces are always enjoyable. No turbulence, just a few nice go-arounds.