There’s an old aviation saying that goes something like, “Eventually, the only thing in the cockpit will be an autopilot, a dog and a pilot. The autopilot will fly the airplane and the dog will bite the pilot if he touches anything.” I was reminded of that saying when I came across a news item about Airbus reportedly thinking about a cockpit-installed toilet with a radio console beside it to, umm, accommodate single-pilot operations. As online sister publication AVweb.com put it, “pilot unions are dumping all over the plan.”
But it got me to thinking about how technology has improved during the five decades I’ve been flying.
