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Michelle Yeh and Kelene Fercho, engineering research psychologists with the FAA, listen in on the EZ-FLY simulation platform demonstration during the Fly-By-Wire Summit in March 2020.
Initially created for NASA’s Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiment (AGATE) program some 20 years ago, EZ- FLY serves as a testbed for proof of concept of SVO. The use of automation and human factors best practices used in our EZ-FLY platform reduces the amount of skills and knowledge a pilot or aircraft operator needs to operate within safety requirements. Our researchers are demonstrating its capabilities through experimental aircraft, ground-based cockpit simulation, and desktop control stick and display simulation. Together with Noel Duerksen, who previously led EZ-FLY development on NASA’s AGATE program, we also programmed EZ-FLY for STOVL and VTOL aerospace vehicles. The system was on display during the March 2020 Fly-By- Wire Summit, where industry professionals gathered in Daytona Beach, Fla. An avionics software engineer and an electrical engineer, both Embry-Riddle alumni, demonstrated EZ-FLY in-flight simulations aboard a Ryan Navion, a piston engine aircraft originally
A certification representative from the FAA experiences an EZ-FLY platform demonstration at the Fly-By-Wire Summit.
built as a variable-stability platform to train test pilots and flight test engineers. Our success with EZ-FLY is just the start, however. As more highly automated aircraft are developed, the training paradigm will have to evolve to meet the UAM industry’s growth. In an effort to advance this area, Flight Level is working with the FAA and NASA on certification proposals and demonstration of highly augmented aircraft with simplified licensing requirements and operational procedures. The transition to more autonomous operations will be gradual. Fixed-wing pilots will likely be at the controls of highly augmented or semi-autonomous aircraft, not only to meet future FAA certification standards, but also to satisfy evolving public opinion.
“The use of automation and human factors best practices used in our EZ-FLY platform reduces the amount of skills and knowledge a pilot or aircraft operator needs to operate within safety requirements.”
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