AAM aircraft that are fully automated, such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles,
NASA, in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, is putting decades of aeronautical research expertise to work to ensure the success of this new technology.
A team of pilots and researchers from NASA's Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign visited Sikorsky's headquarters in March.
The National Campaign team flew research flights in the Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA), a Sikorsky S-76B commercial helicopter.
The autonomy system is intended to provide operators such as NASA with the capability of flying any aircraft autonomously or as an optionally piloted vehicle.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is already putting this novel technology to the test for military applications.
Wayne Ringelberg and David Zahn of NASA flew several flight manoeuvres in SARA.