This may sound sacrilegious, but during a demonstration flight in the Skyryse flight simulator, I realized that this is exactly how a helicopter ought to fly. There is just one flight control, a stick, and forget about managing a collective (power), cyclic (pitch and bank), and pedals (yaw). Skyryse’s SkyOS flight control and operating system eliminates the complexity and makes flying pure fun. At the same time, it’s still possible to make the modified helicopter fly like a helicopter, just like the real thing, even though it’s far easier and much less of a burden on the pilot’s brain. AirVenture visitors who want to try the simulator and see Skyryse’s modified Robinson R66 helicopter can do so at the company’s show exhibit.
Skyryse was founded in 2017 by CEO Mark Groden and has a headquarters facility in Southern California’s aerospace cluster in El Segundo. Flight testing of airborne hardware is done at Camarillo Airport, about 50 miles north and west. The company’s goal is clear: to develop a flight control system using fly-by-wire technology and software to turn existing aircraft—rotorcraft and fixed-wing airplanes—into machines that can be flown by almost anyone but still benefit from their full performance and flight envelopes.
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