Pilot's Discretion Podcast, episode 83
Learning to fly is hard, but revolutionary new fly-by-wire technology just might change that. Matt Thurber, an experienced pilot and journalist, describes how Skyryse has modified a Robinson helicopter and why it could be big news for general aviation. Matt is well-placed to evaluate this new aircraft because he recently learned to fly helicopters, and he shares what that was like, including why rotary wing flight requires using all a pilot’s senses. In the Ready to Copy segment, Matt talks about the threat of GPS jamming, why hangar foam fire suppression systems are bad, and what it was like to hunt swordfish from a Super Cub.
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Quotes:
- What SkyOS means: “They’re not just replacing the existing controls with fly-by-wire electronic controls; they wanted to figure out how to make the aircraft easier to fly.”
- How easy it is to fly: “If I want to land, all I have to do is - from a hover, which again is automatic - push the thumb switch down.”
- Skyryse’s safety goal: “Make it so that it’s not normal for general aviation airplanes to crash.”
- Why helicopter flying is different: “Flying a helicopter, more so than flying an airplane, puts me into a flow state... you can’t not pay attention to that machine.”
- Why you have to relax to hover: “if you think about it too much and focus too much on trying to make the control do exactly what you want, you’ll quickly find that you’re overcontrolling.”
- Will new flight controls take away the fun? “Tailwheels are fun, but why were airplanes designed with nose wheels? Well the fact is, is that a lot more people are capable of flying an airplane with a nose wheel safely than can do so with tailwheels.”
- Better initial training: “You shouldn’t have to wait until you get your first professional pilot job to be taught about important safety elements.”
- Safety management systems for people who don’t want them: “Unless they change their attitude about safety, I don’t see the SMS program being that helpful. They’re gonna be resentful.”
- Are HUDs valuable? “I think head-up displays could definitely help with light GA flying.”
- GPS jamming issues: “We do need an alternative, and I wish there were more work being done on that.”
- Hangar foam systems: “I don’t think these systems are worthwhile. We have the data to support that.”
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