I once heard from a US Naval Flight Surgeon that it was highly recommended, and even perhaps absolutely necessary, to suppress or remove all brain cognitive function from the heads of helicopter pilots. He explained that a heli-pilot needed as direct a connection between his hands, feet, eyes and ass as could be reasonably achieved while still allowing a modicum of life support. It would help, he opined, to include the ears and eyes if necessary for communication and to handle weapon systems but any use of the mind would just get in the way. He told me that I should stick strictly to fixed wing aircraft because I was way too smart to make a good helicopter pilot. "You'll have nothing but trouble with it Dan; trust me" he said.

So I gather from the AOPA briefing this morning that Genesys Aerosystems has come up with an autopilot system for choppers that will allow normal, non-apelike, men and women to successfully operate one of these weird birds. I say it's about time! I wonder if the technology has come out of the stabilization systems used in commercial drones? Now if they can get the whole shebang in a 2 place package for the cost of a new pickup truck I'll send in my deposit tomorrow!

http://genesys-aerosystems.com/sites/de ... enesys.pdf

Ugh as a helicopter pilot I'm sitting here scratching my butt wondering what the hell you're talking about?......ohh squirrel....what were we talking about??...Ummm Beer!

No really, SAS(stability augmentation system ) has been around since the 60's. They are often used in the larger helicopters. You can fly the helicopter without the SAS systems. Latest systems uses a digital Gyro unit ADAHRS instead of a spinning object.

You'll still have to learn to hover the aircraft. It's not that hard any monkey can learn in 10 to 20 hours of practice.

Well it certainly is nice to meet you Ugh. I did notice that I misspelled "too" as "to" in my original post. Perhaps the Flight Surgeon over estimated my difficulty? He was talking as I recall, about the interconnectedness of the body's sensory systems, their feedback through the brain, and then the brains output to various body parts to control the aircraft. Symbols for all of these entities where arrayed around a single larger brain symbol in the center of the visual aid he was using on an old overhead projector. As he was finishing up his presentation he asked if there were any helo pilots in the room. Many eager hands flew into the air and then he delivered his punch line...."well you won't need one of these" he said as he crossed out the brain.