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Airhart Startup Planning Semi-Autonomous Light Aircraft
Nikita Ermoshkin, a former SpaceX engineer and now co-founder and CEO/CTO of Airhart, has developed a whole new approach to entry-level flying that uses software and hardware to control some, but not all, aspects of flight. With fly-by-wire connections to the control surfaces like ailerons, rudders, and elevators, as well as throttle, the software won’t allow you to over- or under-adjust anything. (www.autoweek.com) More...
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So instead of teaching the new pilot the necessary skills to stay safe we are going to allow sub par pilots still go flying because the machine will do it for them. Sorta like not teaching kids how to parallel park because th car will do it..
All this innovation works great until something fails and then…
Here in Canada we see it every time an ABS sensor fails on a car in the winter and the driver has no clue what to do. When I was teaching my kids to drive I pulled the fuse for ABS and took them out onto frozen ponds with the snow cleared off and we played around until driving on ice was an instinct.
Will the pilots of these plane know what to do when something fails and they have to fly the plane?
Here in Canada we see it every time an ABS sensor fails on a car in the winter and the driver has no clue what to do. When I was teaching my kids to drive I pulled the fuse for ABS and took them out onto frozen ponds with the snow cleared off and we played around until driving on ice was an instinct.
Will the pilots of these plane know what to do when something fails and they have to fly the plane?
All I can say is that the more I see technology replacing basic skills people ought to have, the more I think the Pixar movie WALL-E is the most prophetic movie ever. Watch it and you will see.
There’s already a system like this on aircraft used for pilot training, to keep trainees from doing stupid things. It’s called a flight instructor.
From the squawked article: “It’s not the same as an auto pilot. You still have to fly.” Actually, it kind of is an autopilot, and of course even when using any sort of autopilot you still have to fly the plane, meaning you need to understand what the autopilot does and doesn’t do, and know its failure and disconnect modes and how to react safely.
And, from the squawked article: “Another thing: You still have to get a pilot’s license, this is not a Light Sport Aircraft, according to the FAA.” The FAA will no doubt require private pilot checkrides to be done in aircraft without these new bells and whistles, so whoever flys these things will have at least some experience doing things the old way.
From the squawked article: “It’s not the same as an auto pilot. You still have to fly.” Actually, it kind of is an autopilot, and of course even when using any sort of autopilot you still have to fly the plane, meaning you need to understand what the autopilot does and doesn’t do, and know its failure and disconnect modes and how to react safely.
And, from the squawked article: “Another thing: You still have to get a pilot’s license, this is not a Light Sport Aircraft, according to the FAA.” The FAA will no doubt require private pilot checkrides to be done in aircraft without these new bells and whistles, so whoever flys these things will have at least some experience doing things the old way.
Sky Waymo!
Much safer having one of these fall on my house, as opposed to a kid's spy drone.
Much safer having one of these fall on my house, as opposed to a kid's spy drone.
