THE BIG IDEA NEXT-GEN PILOTING IS HERE
THE FAST-APPROACHING era of electric aircraft will transform intracity and regional travel for passengers, but it will also fundamentally change the pilot experience. The new crop of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft are smaller than most helicopters and conventional planes, but also potentially more complex, with multiple rotors that tilt for hovering and forward motion. That's supplemented by the need to constantly assess flight conditions in what promise to be busy urban airways, all while managing prop and rotor pitch and adjusting ailerons, rudders, elevators, and landing gear.
How does one lessen the pilot's burden without compromising safety? The answer, eVTOL leaders Archer and Joby agree, involves unified flight controls, adopted from military programs such as the F-35B fighter jet. The fly-by-wire systems used by Dassault, Gulfstream, and Bombardier operate on the same principle, with a flight control computer (FCC) linked to a multi-servo digital autopilot. Unlike mechanical systems of older aircraft, where a pilot controls every aspect of flight, here the computer takes over once the pilot inputs commands.
The next generation of unified flight controls are significantly faster, smaller, and more sophisticated. BAE Systems has designed controls
