The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) and Skyryse have partnered to incorporate Skyryse’s SkyOS universal operating system and fly-by-wire (FBW) controls in Cal Fire helicopters to enhance firefighting activities.
Skyryse has been working on FAA supplemental type certification of SkyOS and FBW controls for the Robinson R66, and recently launched a similar program for Sikorsky’s Black Hawk with the acquisition of an A model Black Hawk. Cal Fire operates Sikorsky Firehawk helicopters, and these would be likely candidates for a Skyryse modification, although Skyryse is developing the SkyOS platform for a variety of aircraft types, including fixed-wing.
The SkyOS platform removes most of a helicopter’s original controls and replaces them with FBW controls that are managed with an intuitive user interface consisting of a single control stick and touchscreen flight displays. FBW controls enable a pilot to fly the helicopter through its full flight envelope with built-in protections that prevent exceeding limitations and without having to manage the traditional pedals, cyclic, and collective.
A partnership ensued after Cal Fire personnel spent time at Skyryse’s El Segundo, California headquarters, trying out the SkyOS simulator. “They see this as an ability to not only make their mission more effective, not just through the inherent stability and the flight envelope protection, but to optimize water drops, and [consider] optionally piloted vehicles,” said Warren Curry, v-p of sales and a former U.S. Marine MV-22 tiltrotor pilot.
“When I started showing them the inherent stability and the simplicity of the controls and the reduction of cognitive loading that you feel in our 66, they were like, ‘Wow!’ As pilots, cognitive loading is everything, and when you can minimize it, you open up mission effectiveness and safety.”
Benefits for Cal Fire include not only being able to send optionally piloted vehicles into areas too dangerous for human pilots but also increased payload capacity from the lighter FBW system, reduced cognitive loading for pilots, and envelope protection when flying in firefighting conditions with reduced visibility and other hazards.
Cal Fire stations aircraft at 14 air attack and 11 helitack bases in California and is responsible for fire protection services for more than 31 million acres of privately-owned wildlands and providing all-hazard emergency services in 36 of California’s 58 counties.
“I think [the Black Hawk] is a natural bridge to start showing Cal Fire what this could look like,” Curry said. “They’re very interested in what our technology could do for the Firehawk platform. As we’re considering what we’re going to do to that Black Hawk in the next six months to a year, we can work hand in hand with them to make sure that we’re delivering not just an answer that Skyryse thinks is the answer for Cal Fire but an answer that Cal Fire has been participating in and developing with us.”
Engineers from Skyryse have spent time observing Cal Fire training activities to understand how SkyOS could enhance firefighting operations. “We sat with the safety officers and mission commanders, in addition to pilots, trying to understand what their missions look like,” he said. This will help Skyryse adapt its products to Cal Fire’s specific needs, including incorporating information on wind, temperature, location, and anything else involving missions like water drops and other tasks. “We will have them here multiple times so we can show them, here’s what we’ve done based on what you said,” he added.
“In firefighting, every second counts,” said Mark Groden, founder and CEO of Skyryse. “Fires can double in size every 30 seconds, and when fires move faster, we have to move smarter. SkyOS technology provides greater capability, enhances mission profiles, and empowers emergency personnel to fight fires more effectively and safely. We’re honored and privileged to work alongside Cal Fire, especially as a company founded and headquartered in California, to help leverage our technology in the fight against destructive wildfires. Equipping first responders with the latest and best-in-class technology isn’t just an investment in tools, it’s an investment in lives.”