Flying a helicopter is one of the hardest things to do in aviation, yet I "mastered" it in seconds aboard this incredibly smart machine. Sikorsky is at the forefront of autonomous helicopter aviation--something that will be essential for the future of aeromobility. (That is, air taxis.) I was the first journalist to fly SARA, the adapted S-76 that's helping develop the company's Matrix Technology system. But even before air taxis come along, the innovations developed here will boost helicopter safety and crew effectiveness across a wide range of missions. A few notes: --The conventional controls are still present, so the stick movement you see comes from the system using servos to engage the controls. The stick's movement simply mirrors those inputs. Our hands are positioned on the stick because that's where the mic trigger is--i.e., how pilot Mark Ward and I communicate with each other. --Not sure this was particularly clear, but the pilot doesn't have to do anything to disengage the system apart from taking over the controls. So there's no circumstance in which he or she would have to "wrestle" with the aircraft. It yields instantly to pilot inputs, then simply goes back to its programmed mission once control is released. --Articles forthcoming at Wired and in the print issue of Vertical magazine. My first piece on this technology appeared at The Drive: http://www.thedrive.com/news/26735/we-take-sikorskys-ground-breaking-experimental-autonomous-helicopter-prototype-for-a-test-flight
Video: https://youtu.be/bkIZGRa7Uug
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