66 Weeks to Build a Plane That Can Fly Itself

Summary (Technological concepts & product features)

• Goal: autonomous personal airplane

  • The project aims to build an autonomous (self-flying) personal airplane, inspired by the speaker’s aviation interest and eventual work as a flight test engineer.

• Fly-by-wire for general aviation

  • The team’s core technical direction is bringing fly-by-wire into general aviation (small aircraft).
  • The approach focuses on replacing traditional mechanical control linkages with digital control laws.

• Autonomous landing via control laws

  • A key feature is programmed landing: Lucas is creating the control laws that allow the airplane to land itself.

• High-rate flight physics computation

  • Onboard computers run hundreds of calculations per second.
  • Continuous updates maintain stability by adjusting flight control behavior in real time.

• Sensors + redundancy + safety

  • Digital fly-by-wire depends on multiple sensors, power supplies, and actuators that communicate reliably.
  • The project emphasizes safety through redundancy:
    • If one computer fails, backup computers remain available.
  • The same redundancy approach is being tested on a personal airplane.

• Control-law approach analogous to modern cars

  • The video contrasts older mechanical vehicle control (e.g., manual brake modulation on slippery roads) with modern automated control laws.
  • Similarly, the airplane’s computer handles continuous control while the pilot specifies intent.

• Pilot experience: envelope protection and easier manual control

  • The system aims to deliver:
    • Crisp, instantaneous stick response
    • Full flight envelope protection, allowing pilots to approach limits without entering unsafe states
    • Lower “white-knuckle” workload by automating stability and key flight-physics tasks

• Maintaining handling quality when changing speed

  • An intermediary control loop is being designed so speed changes preserve the intended “fly-by” feel during manual flying.

• Learning-to-fly simplification (regulatory angle)

  • The video claims the FAA issued an advisory circular for aircraft with simplified flight controls (like Skytran), stating there is no hourly training requirement.
  • This suggests the possibility of new pilot proficiency standards that could reduce training time.

• Weekly engineering progress + proof-of-concept

  • The team reviews progress weekly and chooses the person who made the biggest step toward the “flying proof of concept.”
  • They demonstrate coordinated behavior (“in unison”), indicating integrated control system testing.

Main speakers / sources (as referenced)

• Lucas
  • Lead on control laws and control loops; programming flight control computers.
• Shawn
  • Recognized for making progress toward the flying proof of concept; appears in weekly reviews.
• The FAA
  • Referenced via an advisory circular related to simplified flight controls.