Skyryse completes an automated pickup, automated hover and automated setdown with the swipe of a finger, Marking An Unprecedented 91-Day Integration
Skyryse, a leader in aviation automation and simplified flight controls, today announced the successful first flight of a Black Hawk helicopter equipped with SkyOS™, the world’s first operating system for flight.
While in flight, Skyryse also executed precision flight maneuvers using SkyOS’ single control stick, and witnessed SkyOS’ maturity on its very first flight, on a new platform. The first flight comes just 91 days after installation of SkyOS began, an accelerated integration timeline built on the company’s decade-plus experience in engineering, testing, and regulatory collaboration, including with the FAA, across multiple aircraft platforms. By successfully integrating and flying its technology on one of the world’s most versatile aircraft, Skyryse has successfully proven that SkyOS is aircraft-agnostic.
“Today, SkyOS demonstrated its maturity and precision on a military-grade aircraft,” said Mark Groden, Founder and CEO of Skyryse. “The Black Hawk is one of the most proven, versatile aircraft in history, and while it’s still the same airframe that many operators know and trust, Black Hawk with SkyOS is fundamentally different aircraft in its capabilities, flexibility and safety. Watching this battle-proven aircraft auto-pickup with the single swipe of a finger, execute a perfect automated hover, effortlessly conduct flight maneuvers with a single control stick, and complete an automated setdown was incredible.”
Making History with the Swipe of a Finger
Historically, industry timelines for technology integration to flight testing take months, years and in some cases, decades. With a vertically integrated structure that allows Skyryse to develop, build, test, and fly in-house, the company was able to exceed expectations and its own ambitions.
Skyryse Test Pilot Eric Stierna, who has flown conventional UH-60 Black Hawks over the course of his career, was the first pilot to fly the Black Hawk with SkyOS installed. “Flying with SkyOS is truly a game changer,” he said. “I swiped my finger and climbed into a completely stable hover. I swiped again and descended into a perfect setdown. When we flew using SkyOS’ single control stick, we knew we were experiencing something completely new, an industry first. Bringing SkyOS to the Black Hawk feels like giving back to the community that shaped my development.”
The primary objective of its first Black Hawk flight was to confirm the integrated performance of SkyOS in real-world conditions, including handling qualities and verifying that all flight-critical functions behave exactly as predicted from ground and simulation testing. Skyryse attributes the rapid integration and successful first flight to its unique testing philosophy. To date, Skyryse has completed 10,000+ simulated flight hours including purposefully injected anomalies for added stress testing, as well as 2,800+ crewed flight hours with SkyOS.
Successfully executing an automated pickup, stable hover, precision flight manuevers with a single control stick, and an automated setdown in a Black Hawk adds to a list of industry-first’s from the company, including the first-ever automated takeoff, hover and landing at the swipe of a finger, as well as the world’s first automated engine-out landing (autorotation), which is both a complex, and critical emergency maneuver.
SkyOS Transforms Legacy Aircraft with Next-Generation Capability
When Skyryse received its first Black Hawk this summer, it featured a traditional architecture – complicated, mechanical linkages and analog systems, requiring high pilot workload at all times. In 91 days, Skyryse replaced legacy OEM with SkyOS, an intelligent, integrated system that gives pilots greater control by simplifying the management of any aircraft during standard flight operations, inclement weather, and emergencies. With a human-machine interface, SkyOS creates a synergistic partnership between human skill and intelligent automation, setting a new standard for safe aviation operations.
Black Hawk with SkyOS is a fully optionally-piloted aircraft that’s easier, safer, and more intuitive to fly, with features including:
- Simplified flight controls, including a streamlined, intuitive interface that reduces pilot workload
- Dramatically improved visibility through a streamlined cockpit, increasing safety and mission effectiveness
- Inherent stability and real-time safety alerts, continuously monitoring terrain, obstacles, and surrounding aircraft
- Safe envelope protection and enhanced performance in limited visibility
- Reduced weight and added capability, a rare and critical advantage for payload-sensitive missions like military operations, medical evacuation, and aerial firefighting
Whether the mission calls for a flight that is dual-piloted, single-piloted, uncrewed or remote-piloted from a ground station, Black Hawk with SkyOS is capable of adapting across all mission profiles. This flexibility offers a powerful force multiplier for military, emergency response, air medical, and firefighting operators – delivering unprecedented, next-generation performance for critical missions. “SkyOS doesn’t promise capability someday. It delivers it now,” said Groden.
Founded in 2016, Skyryse first created a prototype of its SkyOS system within its first year, deploying on a Robinson R44 helicopter that was used by the FBI, law enforcement and first responders in Tracy, CA. Skyryse has since deployed SkyOS on Skyryse One, a turbine-powered Robinson R66, which is now in testing with the FAA, in addition to the Black Hawk and a Cirrus SR-22, marking the first SkyOS installation on an airplane. The company has also announced contracts to integrate SkyOS into Pilatus PC-12s, Bell 407s, Airbus H-125 and H-130 helicopters as part of its partnerships with United Rotorcraft, Air Methods and Mitsubishi Corporation.
While SkyOS features an aircraft-agnostic design, Skyryse intentionally began building and testing SkyOS on helicopters because they are both inherently unstable and more complicated for pilots and automated systems to fly than airplanes. For this reason, its technological progress on helicopters like the R44, the R66, and now the Black Hawk, gives Skyryse an unparalleled advantage in scaling its automation solution across the aviation industry.
“We’re bringing automation to every existing aircraft, including the Black Hawk, in a way that offers unmatched reliability and flexibility,” said Groden. “Today we’ve proven that SkyOS gives one of the most trusted aircraft ever built, a new life. Black Hawk with SkyOS is the future of vertical lift – safer, simpler, and ready for the missions that matter most.”
Ultimately, accomplishing successful integration and first flight testing of the Black Hawk with SkyOS affirms what Skyryse has long believed – SkyOS can be installed and flown on virtually any aircraft in under 100 days.
