The Antelope Valley congressman who sits on both the House Armed Services and Aerospace committees forecasts that like a future with driverless cars, the day will come in this century when air travel for commercial travel is performed by pilotless aircraft.

“In our lifetime, and our children’s we will still have piloted aircraft carrying passengers, but in our grandchildren’s, maybe not,” Rep. Steve Knight, R-Antelope Valley, told a group of Antelope Valley veterans.

Knight, who is campaigning for his second term in Congress, also predicted that the era of supersonic air travel will re-open. He told the gathering that Lockheed Martin is working on a supersonic aircraft to be tested at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

“Do you remember the X-3?” he asked, referring to a slender, needle-nosed aircraft from the early days of the X aircraft test era. “It’s going to look something like that.”

Such prototypes will contribute to development of supersonic aircraft that fly fast, but much quieter than contemporary planes.

“That sound of freedom that we hear may not sound so loud in the future,” Knight said. “You may not hear the sound of sonic booms over (Air Force) Plant 42 in the next 20 to 30 years.”

Aircraft research and development pointing in that futuristic direction will be supported with resources spelled out in the Aerospace Innovation Act bill that Knight acted as one of the key sponsors. The bill, he said, “Provides a roadmap for aerospace.”

“You need a map to know where you’re going,” he said.

Knight spoke to gatherings of area military veterans over two days at the Coffee4Veterans weekly event hosted by restaurateur Jin Hur at Crazy Otto’s Restaurant in downtown Lancaster, and the Antelope Valley Community Action Coalition breakfast at Birdie’s Restaurant and Driving Range in Palmdale.

At the Lancaster event, Knight presented long overdue military medals to Army veteran John Pelletier. Pelletier, in coat and tie, stood at attention with his family members looking on while Knight pinned on medals for Good Conduct, Expeditionary Service, and Korean Defense.

Pelletier thanked Knight and said his office succeeded in a little more than a month something he had been trying to get done for decades.

“I’ll take the credit,” Knight joked, then quickly assigned the credit to his 25th District staff.

“I want to let you know that is something our staff is really good at,” Knight told the gathering about about 60 veterans and family members at Crazy Otto’s.

“My District Director, Lisa Moulton, and Christine Ward who manages veterans affairs … they are simply the best of the best.”

In addressing the future of military aerospace development, Knight said that the Air Force Academy, over time, will be training fewer pilots, and there will be ever diminishing pilot slots in the nation’s air combat forces.

The future is in UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles, Knight said.

He referred to the F-22, the nation’s most advanced air superiority fighter, and said that it is “20-year-old technology,” while the technologies of pilotless aircraft, and the ranks who operate them, are continuously expanding.

“They are graduating people at the Test Pilot School at Edwards who have never flown a (military) airplane,” Knight said. “They are called operators.”

Knight said that he is optimistic that President Obama will sign a bill to approve a pilot program for the Department of Veterans Affairs for a therapy that has shown promising results for veterans afflicted with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and other traumas.

The therapy, which employs magnetic resonance imaging, has succeeded in major symptom reduction in tests with 400 veterans so far, with 60 severely afflicted veterans registering major improvement, Knight said.

“I believe President Obama will sign it by the end of the summer,” Knight said.

Finally, he told both groups of veterans that he believes that the controversial VA CHOICE program will improve over time. The CHOICE card has fallen under much criticism both by veterans and in Congress, because it was supposed to make it easier for veterans to seek care outside a 40-mile limit from a VA healthcare center. Both veterans and healthcare providers have found it frequently frustrating.

“The next iteration is going to get better,” he said.

The future of VA healthcare, Knight said, will fall in the category of “public-private partnerships.”

“We don’t need to build any more VA medical centers,” he said, citing the VA Medical Center in Denver that cost $1.6 billion and went 100% over budget.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “There are people in the VA who care, and who want to help the veterans. It’s the administration that has lost its way.”

Knight urged veterans with problems in representation contact Moulton or Ward at his Palmdale office.

Knight’s office in the Antelope Valley is 1008 West Ave. M-14, Suite E, 93551; Telephone, 661-441-0320. The Santa Clarita Valley Office is 26415 Carl Boyer Drive, Suite 220, 91350; Telephone 661-255-5630. His Washington, D.C., office is 1023 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; Telephone 202-225-1956.