Airhart Aeronautics reveals easy-to-fly prototype during ‘Douglas Day’ event

The event, called Douglas Day, marked the 100th anniversary of the first aerial circumnavigation of the globe, completed by a fleet of Douglas World Cruiser aircraft. Ermoshkin said the occasion was an ideal opportunity to showcase the past, present, and future of aviation.

Airhart has been testing a fly-by-wire control system called Airhart Assist in an experimental Sling testbed aircraft. Airhart Assist combines a control stick and power control lever but lacks rudder pedals. The system uses automation to handle much of the coordination required for smooth, efficient, and safe flight, such as matching rudder, aileron, and elevator inputs during turns and adjusting power during climb, cruise, and descent and other maneuvers.

Ermoshkin said Airhart Assist reflects many of the difficulties and disappointments he experienced while training for his private pilot certificate. When he entered the cockpit of a Cirrus SR20 for his first round of flight instruction he was surprised, he said, that aircraft controls were so much more complex than those found in cars. Even Cirrus, which has simplified certain systems over the years, still used a manual mixture control.

Airhart’s goal is to offer its aircraft initially in the experimental market while continuing to develop its systems and work toward FAR Part 23 certification. Within 10 years the company plans to produce certified aircraft that cost less than $100,000. Achieving this goal depends in part on validating Ermoshkin’s belief that more people would take up flying if doing so were simpler, more intuitive and safer. His system’s automation focuses on certain elements of flight that tend to add to the pilot’s workload. Often these include tasks such as adding power and angle of attack during a climb or coordinating pitch and power in the traffic pattern. While such procedures seem straightforward, they can be easy to forget, especially when distractions arise. Failing to execute one or more can lead to a loss of control, as many accident analyses have shown.

With its appearance at Santa Monica, Airhart was able to show its aircraft to a large number of aviation enthusiasts, many of them aspiring pilots. The company’s display included a simulator to demonstrate how Airhart Assist works. Ermoshkin said many people who tried out the control system on the simulator appeared to “get it” immediately, especially the younger visitors who are familiar with basic flight controls from years of playing video games.

Even longtime pilots who learned to fly the traditional way seemed open to the simpler approach. “I would say they were skeptical and asked a lot of questions,” Ermoshkin said. “In the end, though they understand that improving safety is a good thing.”