A few weeks ago I interviewed commercial pilot and retired Navy fighter pilot Paco Chierici about autonomous flight, and his new novel, Lions of the Sky.
I wrote up the interview on Forbes.com.
Paco and I also recorded a podcast. We talk about his novel, the present and future of aviation, and how autonomy is already affecting pilots.
You can also watch Paco spin loops in a fighter jet â ď¸đ
Like many commuters, I listen to podcasts, and, again like many commuters, one of my favorite podcasts is 99% Invisible. The show is about design and all of the ways that design shapes the word, mostly in ways we donât see unless somebody points them out to us.
The most recent episode is âThe Nut Behind the Wheelâ.
When I saw the episode title, I naturally thought it referred to a generic nut behind the wheelâââor rather, that humans are just bad drivers.
But the episode actually refers to a specific nut, Hugh DeHaven, who Wikipedia refers to as, âthe father of crash survivabilityâ.
DeHaven created the first comprehensive database of crash information, which has since become NHTSAâs Fatality Analysis Reporting System. This database collects extensive data on every fatal automotive crash in the United States.
This data is used by automotive manufacturers, safety certification organizations, and governmental regulators, all of whom study the crashes to find ways to make cars safer. 60 years ago, this started with the collapsible steering column, and of course itâs grown to include airbags, crumple zones, and collision alerts.
Itâs a great podcast episode and kind of a wild story, including DeHaven getting up on ladders and dropping containers with eggs, to see what materials cushioned the fall best.
Everything starts with collecting data. As the proverb goes, what gets measured gets managed.
David Silver 