FLYING took the opportunity to see what’s on the horizon in terms of both traditional helicopters and the red-hot powered-lift and eVTOL categories ahead of the Helicopter Association International’s HeliExpo in February at Anaheim, California.

Bell 525

The Bell 525 (at right) proposes to bring the first fully digital, fly-by-wire rotorcraft to the civil market, and Bell Helicopter has been hard at work getting the program to the finish line down at its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

So what does that mean? The FBW design logic on the 525 is different from an aftermarket add-on autoflight system such as the GFC 600H. In this case, Bell’s partnership with Garmin has translated to the G5000H flight deck.

Tim Evans, business development manager on the 525 program, gave FLYING a special update ahead of Heli-Expo.

“Broadly speaking, flight testing is continuing very nicely, with the good relationship we have with the FAA,” said Evans. “Last year, we were able to complete nine TIAs towards certification, and by the end of February, we should have only five events left. Two of them we’re already into, and the other two [should be complete] by midyear.”

• READ MORE: Bell 360 Invictus Prototype Advances with T901 Engine Delivery

At that point, all of the delegated activities that Bell is responsible for will be finished—and the team will turn things over to the FAA. From there, functional and reliability testing is the last milestone to cross, with 150 hours of flying with the FAA, putting the 525 through its operational paces.

As with similar Textron Aviation aircraft programs, Bell engaged its Customer Advisory Board, which gave a clear message.

“The overwhelming response?” said Evans. “It’s automation that will bring a level of safety seen commensurately on the fixed wing side—the redundancy will be game-changing to how the civil market functions.”

According to Bell, the 525 will deliver what the customer feedback told it was needed: “When you pull it into a hover and get to 20 to 30 feet—with no pedals—it will hold that attitude, essentially hands off.”

Pilots can also turn into an angle of bank, with no pedal inputs, and the 525 will do a full 360 at the input bank angle.

“The control laws are able to anticipate and calculate the pilots’ inputs,” said Evans, noting that the 525 also benefits from a level of redundancy not seen before in this class of rotorcraft. “We’re shaping some of the requirements in Part 29, so the FAA required a triple redundancy—three computers, three hydraulic [systems]—so [it’s] a safer aircraft at a foundational level.”

Several markets that Bell shaped the 525 for include offshore, VIP/head of state, and SAR/parapublic/Coast Guard—so Bell built certain provisioning into the airframe itself, though kitting will take care of the details. Bell has multiple launch customers and is in active negotiations, though it can’t say yet who those first deliveries will go to.

In closing our briefing, Evans also wanted to highlight the green side of the design.

“If you compare the 525 to others in the medium space, it’s going to be 30 percent more efficient than a [Sikorsky] S-92. That’s one we’re pretty proud of. We’ve also flown it on SAF fuel, a 30 percent blend, but capable of up to 100 percent.”

Leonardo AW09 and AW609

Two projects from Leonardo Helicopters have also been winding their way through the certification process along the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) track—the modern-yet-standard AW09 helicopter and the AW609 tiltrotor design.

The single-engine AW09 was originally developed by Kopter Group, a company acquired by Leonardo in 2020. Proposed as a multimission solution for VIP transport, emergency medical services, utility operations, and security teams, the AW09 will carry up to eight passengers.

A five-blade, all-composite rotor system will translate into smooth flight characteristics and a high degree of maneuverability. Up front, the Garmin G3000H flight deck offers pilots next-generation glass. The Safran Arriel 2K powerplant has dual channel FADEC with an auxiliary backup system. Projected retail pricing begins at $3.9 million.

• READ MORE: Leonardo Tests AI-Enabled Visual Awareness System for Rotorcraft

A year ago, on March 16 and 17, Leonardo began familiarization flight testing with EASA on the tiltrotor AW609, following on to FAA testing in February. The company plans dual certification, so it is moving through the process with both agencies concurrently. Leonardo pursues this strategy in hopes of making up for some lost time, as the AW609 began life in the 1990s as a joint project between Bell and Agusta, called the BA609.

That’s probably why it bears some resemblance to the more commonly known Bell V-22 Osprey. The AW609 similarly enters the powered-lift category with its ability to take off vertically and fly at high cruise speeds with props tilted forward—up to twice the speed of normal helicopters, according to the company. The expected service ceiling will be 25,000 feet msl.

Its projected certification timeline remains in the distance, with a proposed retail price beginning at roughly $24 million.

Up Next for Robinson?

Robinson continues to set the pace on the light GA end of the market with its line of piston-powered R22s and R44s, and turbine R66 helicopters.

• READ MORE: Airworthiness Directive Issued for Robinson Helicopters

While the Lycoming O-320-powered R22 is well known in training, the R44—with its O-360 engine—crosses over into the recreational and light transportation markets with the Raven and Raven II variants. The R66 fulfills a variety of roles, with added cruise speed—up to 110 knots—extra passenger capacity, and turbine reliability from its Rolls-Royce RR300 engine.

As of press time, the company indicated news on the horizon that it would be sharing at Heli-Expo—including the updated empennage for the R44—so stay tuned into FLYING’s reporting from the event.

eVTOLs Next?

As we gear up for Heli-Expo, we know that the show floor will host an entire flight line of eVOTLs in various stages toward initial FAA certification. While we covered Joby Aviation’s prospects in detail in our “First Look: Joby’s eVTOL Future” piece in this issue, it is far from the only player in town.

Archer Aviation’s Midnight has recently passed its Phase 1 flight testing program, hot on Joby’s heels. The company announced in late January that it would be ready for the beginning of for-credit flight testing with the FAA later in 2024. The Midnight cuts a similar profile to the Joby aircraft—carrying one pilot plus four passengers—but with six fixed rotors in a forward flight position and six fixed for vertical flight. The test unit has yet to make the transition from vertical to forward flight as of press time, but we expect this to come soon.

Beta Technologies launched its program with a conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft

called the Alia to test its electric propulsion system in a more traditional airframe before moving forward into the powered-lift space. As of late January, Beta had conducted multiple flights with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Department of Defense in both on-base and cross-country ops as part of the Agility Prime program. While it tests the applicability and cost reduction

possible—using electric aircraft in missions including casualty evacuation to go operational in 2025—Beta hopes to take what it learns and produce an eVTOL version by 2026.

Overair’s Butterfly eVTOL is also coming up quickly, as the Southern California-based company signs on several new customers in South Korea as well as Houston-based Bristow Group. Overair is now working through its G-1 Stage III means of compliance documentation with the FAA, with testing of the full-scale, six-seat prototype to begin later this year.

Meanwhile, south of the equator, Eve Air Mobility recently saw Brazilian aviation authority ANAC release the proposed airworthiness criteria for its design, along with bringing a list of key suppliers on board. Eve broke ground on its manufacturing facility in Taubaté, Brazil, earlier this year as well.

Many other players, including Volocopter, Lilium, and Jump Aero continue to chug along—and the race is really heating up as to who will make it to certification first. Oh, wait—that honor already belongs to EHang, which obtained CAAC’s blessing for its EH216-S in China in late 2023—and made the first commercial demonstration flights with it by December.

This feature first appeared in the March 2024/Issue 946 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post Rotor Roundup: What’s on the Horizon for Helicopters and eVTOLs? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The space agency this week confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Titan, the fourth initiative under its New Frontiers program, is a “go” for 2028. According to NASA, teams can now begin finalizing the mission’s design. After that, they will begin construction and testing of the spacecraft and science instruments it will carry.

The aim of Dragonfly is to explore “promising locations” on Titan in search of prebiotic chemical processes—those that took place before life formed and may have contributed to its inception—that are common to both Titan and ancient Earth. In other words, the mission could help NASA uncover how life in the solar system came to be.

“Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next steps on this mission,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with rotorcraft outside of Earth.”

After a revised mission budget and schedule were conditionally approved in November 2023, the release of NASA’s fiscal year 2025 budget request confirmed that Dragonfly will cost $3.35 billion and launch in July 2028. That cost is about triple what was initially proposed in 2019, and the launch date two years later.

NASA attributed the rising costs to multiple revisions of the mission in 2020 and 2022, when agency funding was curtailed. For example, it had to allocate additional funding toward a new heavy-lift launch vehicle—intended to shorten the transit time between Earth and Titan—due to the delayed launch. The COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain snarls were also cited as factors.

Dragonfly is a dual-quadcopter with eight rotors that flies like a drone, albeit one about the size of a car. It is expected to arrive on Titan in 2034, where, over the course of a two-year expedition, it will investigate whether the moon could be habitable.

As one of the solar system’s few ocean worlds, researchers believe Titan could harbor water- or hydrocarbon-based life. Its thick, hazy atmosphere—unique among moons in the solar system—resembles that of Earth and has allowed complex organic materials to form on its surface.

Unlike Earth’s moon, which can accommodate solar-powered vehicles, Titan’s dense atmosphere necessitates a different energy source. Dragonfly will use a space nuclear power system, similar to those powering NASA’s Curiosity rover and New Horizons probe, that can be recharged at night. Most activities will be performed during the daytime, which on Titan lasts eight Earth days.

Titan is expected to have a greater range capability than any existing rover, covering tens of miles within an hour. According to NASA, it will fly hundreds of miles over two years, making one “hop” per Titan day (equivalent to 16 Earth days). However, Dragonfly will spend much of its time on the moon’s surface, making measurements and collecting samples.

The mission would represent the first time NASA has flown a vehicle for science on another planet’s moon. In 2022, the agency’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter completed several firsts and record-breaking flights on the Red Planet, earning the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab a Robert J. Collier trophy. Ingenuity earlier this week was officially retired into a stationary testbed following its final flight in January.

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The powerplant manufacturer, which is a subsidiary of Continental Aerospace Technologies, has submitted its certification package to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and  expects certification by the end of the year.

• READ MORE: AERO Friedrichshafen Encourages Pilots to Arrive in Their Own Aircraft

According to Continental, the CD-170R variant is “an evolution” of its CD-170 for advanced fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft and will feature similar characteristics. The CD-170R, however, does not have a gearbox, shaving its weight by 37 pounds.

“The 170 hp turbocharged engine combines the state-of-the-art, full authority digital engine control (FADEC), resulting in lower fuel consumption and dual redundancy,” Continental said in a statement. “While fuel consumption is application based, this 4-cylinder model is expected to conservatively burn approximately 7.9 gallons of jet-A-1 per hour when in cruise. Similar to its predecessors, the CD-170R will debut with a time between replacement (TBR) of 1,200 hours and will increase with time in service.”

According to David Dörner, vice president of global research and development for Continental Aerospace Technologies, the engine was engineered with pilot needs at the forefront.

“This is a major innovation milestone in Continental’s history that will allow us to serve even more pilots and operators in the [GA] industry,” said Dörner. “Controlled via FADEC with rotorcraft-specific software mapping, pilots can now direct their focus toward the critical phases of flight and mission, alleviating the need to manage both the throttle and the collective simultaneously.”

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“This valuable exemption allows operators of piston-powered airplanes, small airplanes and rotorcraft to realize the cost-sharing benefits outlined in Part 91 Subpart F, making more effective use of their aircraft,” said Doug Carr, NBAA’s senior vice president of safety, security, sustainability, and international affairs.

Subpart F of Part 91 was written into the regulations to accommodate the fractional-ownership business model pioneered by NetJets. NBAA said its members who operate small aircraft for business can “take advantage of the flexibility usually offered to operators of larger, turbine-powered aircraft.”

NBAA members must submit a letter of intent (LOI) to the public docket to use Exemption 7897M. The letter must include detailed information on the business entity and an attestation that the operator will adhere to the terms of the exemption.

Previously only available for aircraft of more than 12,500 pounds gross weight, the benefits of Subpart F include “alternative maintenance programs” and limited cost-reimbursement from passengers for certain flights.

“The cost-reimbursement options of Part 91 Subpart F are useful regarding transportation of a guest on a company aircraft, the use of the aircraft by employees of a subsidiary company and other common scenarios,” NBAA wrote. “Time-sharing, interchange, and joint-ownership agreements are also permitted under Part 91 Subpart F.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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This year’s event from February 26-29 included the announcement that the show’s producer, Helicopter Association International (HAI), was rebranding as Vertical Aviation International (VAI).

• READ MORE: HAI Rebrands as Vertical Aviation International

VAI is the world’s leading membership association dedicated to the vertical aviation industry, which encompasses all aircraft capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing.

According to James Viola, VAI president and CEO, during the four-day event you could feel the excitement and optimism.

“Both our attendees and exhibitors reported experiencing an outstanding show in Anaheim,” Viola said. “Every exhibiting company I spoke with reported high-quality traffic, and our attendees took advantage of the hundred-plus networking and education opportunities.”

The rebranding of the event plays into the growth in the industry, according to Nicole Battjes, chair of the VAI board of directors.

“We chose to announce our rebranding at the show because each year it becomes the center of the vertical aviation universe,” Battjes said. “Our theme for the 2024 show, ‘Building Tomorrow,’ perfectly aligned with our reasons for rebranding.”

Expo by the Numbers

Part trade show, part conference, Heli-Expo brought in 15,000 professionals from 87 countries. For four days, they had the opportunity to visit with some 625 exhibitors and get a close look at 63 aircraft.

The show also represents an opportunity to network and see and learn about the latest in technology and services for vertical aviation businesses.

Issues and Advancements in the Industry

Traditionally, Heli-Expo has been a good place to job hunt, and this year was no exception. VAI offered numerous opportunities for industry professionals, such as pilots, mechanics, and engineers, to network and connect with employers through its Industry Career Fair. In addition, there was a well-attended Mil2Civ Workshop, a program designed to assist military members transitioning into civil aviation.

In all there were 125 educational and training courses offered, ranging from the use of automation to aerial firefighting, that attracted more than 4,180 attendees. Plus, the annual Rotor Safety Zone featured presentations, demonstrations, and access to the regulators overseeing aviation safety. 

VAI Getting Cleaner

During the conference VAI promoted greater use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by providing it to all aircraft flying into this year’s show.

“Vertical aviation must do our part to reduce our carbon footprint by incorporating SAF,” Viola said. “We want to thank Hangar 21, HeliStream Inc., Fullerton Municipal Airport [KFUL], World Energy, and Titan Aviation Fuels, who were instrumental in bringing SAF to HAI Heli-Expo.” 

Next year’s show, which will be called VERTICON 2025, will be in Dallas from March 10-13, with exhibits open March 11-13.

More information about VAI can be found here.

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The company’s Arabia Aircraft and Maintenance Services subsidiary on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with The Helicopter and Jet Company (THC), a provider of commercial helicopter services wholly owned by the government of Saudi Arabia, to explore advanced air mobility (AAM) initiatives and “other collaborative vertical lift endeavors” in the country.

The MOU provides a framework for the partners to adopt emerging technologies—such as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) or short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft—and grow Saudi Arabia’s aviation ecosystem, Bristow said.

“THC has demonstrated amazing success in a short period of time,” said Chris Bradshaw, president and CEO of Bristow. “We are excited about this new agreement, and our partnership with THC underscores Bristow’s intent to grow our business in the Middle East. Bristow has collaborations with multiple leading AAM manufacturers to provide critical safety, operational, certification, and logistics expertise.”

The partnership with THC is just the latest AAM-related agreement for Bristow, which has steadily pivoted from operating solely rotorcraft. In recent years, the company has shifted focus to vertical flight more broadly, embracing technologies such as eVTOL and eSTOL.

For example, Lilium, which has a deal to sell as many as 100 eVTOL Lilium Jets to Saudi flag carrier Saudia, also signed a nonbinding agreement with Bristow that includes the option to purchase up to 50 aircraft. Under the agreement, Bristow would provide maintenance services for the manufacturer’s planned Florida AAM network.

In addition, Bristow has deals for up to 50 eVTOL aircraft from Vertical Aerospace, as many as 55 from Beta Technologies, and up to 80 from Volocopter. It also agreed on preorders for 100 Elroy Air Chaparral eVTOL cargo drones and up to 50 Electra.aero eSTOLs.

The new additions will serve customers in the U.S. and other regions within Bristow’s network—including, potentially, Saudi Arabia.

“This agreement will also allow us to help transform Saudi Arabia’s general aviation industry through our forward-thinking work, cementing our role as a regional leader and an increasingly global player,” said Arnaud Martinez, CEO of THC.

The Middle East is quickly becoming a hotbed for AAM activity, with manufacturers attracted by the high levels of investment and cooperation by the Saudi government and the companies it backs. Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Lilium, Volocopter, and EHang are among those looking to fly in the region. 

Some are even eyeing Saudi Arabia. Lilium, for example, is working with airline Saudia to launch a nationwide eVTOL network. Another German manufacturer, Volocopter, is looking to build its own network in the planned smart city of Neom.

In addition, Joby this month signed an exclusive six-year deal to operate electric air taxis in Dubai, shutting out competitors such as Archer and Embraer’s Eve Air Mobility that had previously announced plans to fly in the city.

Archer is now looking elsewhere within the United Arab Emirates, working with the city of Abu Dhabi and local operators Falcon Aviation and Air Chateau to bring AAM to the country. China’s EHang also intends to expand operations to Abu Dhabi and across the UAE.

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The Italian firm and Daedalean, a Swiss developer of AI systems for situational awareness and flight control, on Monday announced they completed a flight test campaign that evaluated AI capabilities for advanced navigation of rotorcraft.

Daedalean’s AI-enabled visual awareness system was installed on Leonardo’s SW4 and SW4 Solo RUAS/OPH (Rotorcraft Unmanned Air System/Optionally Piloted Helicopter) models, which flew out of the manufacturer’s PZL-Świdnik facility in Lublin, Poland. PZL-Świdnik is the largest helicopter production plant in the country.

Daedalean claims its PilotEye visual traffic detection system will be the first AI-based cockpit application to be certified for civil aviation. The company is looking to serve general aviation, commercial air transport, urban air mobility (UAM), and uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs).

The Swiss company will certify its neural network-based system with both the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The FAA has released an Issue Paper for the technology, while EASA has issued a Certification Review Item, to get the ball rolling.

“Leonardo is working towards prudently integrating AI in its products and services through both in-house developments and cooperations,” said Mattia Cavanna, head of technology and innovation at Leonardo Helicopters. “By collaborating with emerging companies on predefined use cases, we keep maturing our technology road maps towards a safer, affordable, and sustainable flight experience. Improving situational awareness…could contribute to further prevent aviation accidents and progressively enable higher degrees of autonomy to our platform.”

Daedalean and Leonardo collaborated on the yearlong project under a grant from Eureka Eurostars, the largest international funding program for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to partner on R&D projects.

The partners equipped Leonardo helicopters with Daedalean’s aircraft-mounted cameras, computer, and interface display. Testing ran from July to September 2023. According to its analysis, Leonardo said the campaign delivered “outstanding results.”

“Daedalean is proud to bring our experience creating machine-learned algorithms for aviation to such a prominent player in the world of aviation,” said Luuk van Dijk, CEO of Daedalean. “It shows there is growing interest in and understanding of the benefits machine learning can bring today to increase flight safety.”

Daedalean provides what it calls “situational intelligence,” or the ability for an aircraft to understand its environment and anticipate and react to potential threats. Its visual awareness system uses machine learning to quickly and effectively perform tasks the company said previously could only be done by humans.

The company’s PilotEye solution can identify aerial traffic—including ADS-B-equipped aircraft as well as “non-cooperative traffic” such as birds or drones—determine an aircraft’s location in GPS-denied environments, and even offer landing guidance.

PilotEye represents a joint project between Daedalean and Avidyne Corp., a provider of integrated avionics systems, flight displays, and safety systems for GA and business aircraft. The system integrates with Avidyne’s Skytrax Traffic Advisory System into the IFD5XX flight display series.

Daedalean is also collaborating with Xwing, a fellow developer of automated flight systems, to harmonize their approaches to certification and speed the approval of both companies’ technology. Further, it has conducted joint research with the FAA, EASA, and other regulators to demonstrate that its system can be certified under stringent safety standards.

“Daedalean published multiple studies with regulators to evidence the fact that our machine-learned algorithms are capable of providing functions meeting and exceeding human capabilities,” van Dijk said. “As aviators and passengers become more familiar with AI-enabled systems, a future with autonomous flight becomes more attractive for the higher safety, lower cost, and increased capacity it will deliver.”

Leonardo, meanwhile, said it is “well positioned” to possibly retrofit its line of aircraft with Daedalean tech and is eyeing integration on future models.

The manufacturer has a network of research and development laboratories called Leonardo Labs, which serve as technology hubs connecting university talent with company experts. The sites are intended to drive innovation, uncover practical applications, and research areas such as materials and quantum technologies, sustainability, and applied artificial intelligence.

Other Leonardo projects under development include fuel-reducing technology, a tiltrotor airframe design, and a search and rescue helicopter.

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GAMA found that aircraft shipments rose across all segments compared to 2022, coming in at 3,050 airplanes and 962 helicopters delivered in 2023. The numbers represent year-on-year increases of 9 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively. Overall airplane billings for last year rose 2.2 percent to $23.4 billion while total helicopter billings increased 11.2 percent to $4.4 billion.

“For the first time in more than a decade, the general aviation manufacturing industry has eclipsed 4,000 aircraft delivered,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. “In addition to this strong showing, there are robust and growing order backlogs for all segments of aircraft. This is a testament to the resilience of our industry and the integral role that general and business aviation plays in our communities.”

Breaking down the numbers, piston airplane deliveries were up 11.8 percent from 1,505 in 2022 to 1,682 in 2023. Turboprop shipments also surged, hitting 638 delivered last year and improving 9.6 percent over the previous year. While business jet deliveries saw the least change, the segment still increased 2.5 percent with 730 delivered.

On the rotorcraft side, 209 piston helicopters shipped last year, up from 194 in 2022. Turbine helicopter deliveries jumped 10.4 percent. GAMA noted that fourth-quarter data from Leonardo Helicopters was not available when the report was published, so it excluded Leonardo’s Q4 2022 data from its comparison.

• READ MORE: GAMA Reports Year-Over-Year Increase in Aircraft Shipments In a ‘Governed’ Recovery

“While the deliveries from 2023 are very encouraging, our industry faces headwinds from ongoing supply chain issues, workforce shortages, uncertainty and unpredictability from global regulators, and shortsighted efforts aimed at curbing business and general aviation, particularly in Europe,” said Bunce. “As civil aviation’s innovation incubator, our entire GA industry is focused on new aircraft and technologies that will lead the way in safety and sustainability for the entire aviation sector. This progress is dependent on having effective, predictable, and accountable regulatory processes, and a supportive business environment.

“Therefore, it is crucial that the U.S. Congress passes a long-term FAA reauthorization bill, a fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill for the FAA, and a tax measure, which is pending, that promotes research and development.”

GAMA’s full report is available on its website.

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And they have always had these controls since Sikorsky invented them in 1942, said Ray Wert, vice president of communications and marketing for Skyryse, the manufacturers of the Skyryse One, the first production fly-by-wire helicopter piloted with a single control stick and two touchscreens.

“Our hope is that it will truly be a game-changer,” said Wert.

Skyryse, founded in 2016 in Los Angeles and headquartered in nearby El Segundo, California, said its mission is to “bring about a new era in flight, where fatalities are near zero and where piloting any aircraft is simple and safe.”

The company claims to have done that with the invention of the SkyOS system—a computer that gives pilots greater control by simplifying the management of an aircraft during standard flight operations, inclement weather, and emergencies.

“The Skyryse One might look familiar on the outside, but the similarities to any other aircraft end there,” said Mark Groden, founder and CEO of Skyryse. “Since the invention of vertical flight, pilots have juggled four controls simultaneously, using both hands and both feet just to keep it airborne—until today.”

How It Works

According to the company, the Skyryse One features the SkyOS, a proprietary operating system that offers simplified control and an aircraft-agnostic, triply-redundant, fly-by-wire system.

Wert noted that since the invention of vertical flight pilots have juggled four controls simultaneously, using both hands and feet to keep the aircraft airborne. This new flight control system features dynamic computers that are interactive and “provide a level of aviation safety that is usually only found in fighter jets and airliners.”

This is not an autopilot, according to Wert, as the company realized a bolt-on autopilot would not solve the challenges of flying a helicopter—hence the need for the clean-sheet design.

Among the features it includes are automatic auto rotation and auto glide, and flair and set-down when the computers detect a power failure.

“The pilot in command can also do an auto pickup and set-down as well as start-up with a single swipe of a finger,” said Wert. “It has hover assist mode, whereas conventional helicopters require a complex synchronization of all four controls. We went with the triply-redundant fly-by-wire system to create simplified controls to remove the hundreds of points of potential aircraft failure in the old mechanical controls that [have] been in use since the 1940s. It gives you more room in the cockpit as there are no more pedals or dual cyclic or collective.”

Wert said the certification process is underway, and it is his understanding that the usable load for the Skyryse One will allow for it to carry four people and a full tank of gas.

“When you remove the mechanical parts, you save a lot of weight,” he said. “Our hope is that it will truly be a game-changer.”

In addition to being significantly easier to fly than present vertical lift aircraft on the market, the Skyryse One will be fully IFR capable with an introductory price of $1.8 million.

Other first-of-its-kind features found in the Skyryse One:

• Flight system: It offers full four-axis flight control with the SkyOS operating system and fly-by-wire.

• Dynamic envelope protection: It continuously combines pilot inputs and monitors environmental conditions, aircraft status, and flight parameters to keep the aircraft flying safely.

• Fully automated autorotation: Skyryse SkyOS to quickly recognize a power failure and automatically enter into an autorotation, automating the glide, flare, and set-down, with the pilot in control.

• Auto-pickup and set-down: The Skyryse One will auto-pickup and set-down at a pilot’s command with just one simple swipe on the screen.

• Hover assist: Traditional helicopters require a complex synchronization of all four controls. Skyryse SkyOS simplifies all that, assisting pilots by maintaining a hover at their command without using hands and feet.

Because the Skyryse One is continuously stabilized by SkyOS, it will be more steady than other vertical lift aircraft. The company said the pilot can “let go of the controls at any time, and the aircraft will stay inside a safe flight envelope.”

•  Swipe-to-start: Traditional helicopters are also started through a lengthy multistep start-up procedure. The Skyryse One automates all of that, allowing a pilot to start the engine by swiping right on the screen.

The Skyryse One will be fully certified for IFR at half the cost of an IFR-certified helicopter.

How to Get One

To place an order, visit the Skyryse website to put down a fully-refundable, nontransferable reservation for $2,500. The company said its first customers will lock in their Skyryse One First Edition aircraft for an introductory price of $1.8 million, excluding any additional interior or livery customizations selected.

Beyond these First Edition units, the Skyryse One cost will be determined by position in line and production timing. Skyryse will begin accepting traditional deposits from First Edition customers as their place in line comes up during production, with first deposits to coincide with EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July. Additionally, Skyryse will also be extending simulator demonstration opportunities to reservation holders who sign up ahead of Oshkosh.

Reservations for the Skyryse One First Edition are open at Skyryse.com.

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The design is now standard on all newly manufactured R44 helicopters registered with the FAA. It follows on the heels of the FAA’s prior approval of the same configuration for the Robinson R66 Turbine in September 2023.

The Robinson R44 was developed in the early 1990s and today is flown all over the world.

• READ MORE: Robinson Helicopter Service Bulletin Targets Governor Controller Upgrades

According to Robinson, the new empennage design provides “enhanced handling characteristics during high-speed flight.”

“Robinson continues to invest in engineering enhancements that make our aircraft more accessible and easier to fly,” said Kurt Robinson, president of Robinson Helicopter Company. “Our aim is to deliver unrivaled safety and reliability so pilots can accomplish their mission with confidence.”

For the R44s in the field, Robinson Helicopter Company also offers the KI-285-2 retrofit kit, originally priced at $7,050, available at a discounted rate of $3,600 until the end of December 2024.

The kit can be purchased through a Robinson Dealer or Service Center, or by calling Robinson Helicopter customer service. According to the company, “The retrofit kit allows for the installation of the new symmetrical stabilizer on the existing tailcones in the field without the need for a complete tail cone replacement.”

Robinson Helicopter Company is also working with civil airworthiness authorities around the globe to secure foreign validations for this empennage configuration. The company noted, “After these regulatory approvals are obtained, foreign-registered R44 helicopters will be delivered with the new empennage as standard.”

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