Every year innovation literally drops from the sky into the farm fields of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) membership convention and airshow, AirVenture, has become a week-long extravaganza of every aspect of aviation – from an appearance of the F22 and the Apollo 13 astronauts to night airshows, the spectacle draws worldwide press.
Yet, the roots of the organization are the homebuilder, the unsung hero, who on a tight budget finds a path to the sky. It is in watching this group over my now more than three decades of attendance that I always draw inspiration and great takeaways related to grassroots innovation. The EAA is a unique place in that it is both a community of inventors and early adopters providing a place where thought leaders like Burt Rutan (think SpaceShipOne) have been able to do breakthrough work that has blossomed into commercial ventures.
Trend 1: The stunning pace of open source avionics in experimental aircraft.
I had a chance to meet with Mark Spencer of Avilution Avionics who was displaying a stunning integration of avionics for homebuilt airplanes. They have used off-the-shelf Raspberry Pi computers and ethernet communication to do in 24 months what the commercial avionics world took a decade to complete – and at a price that is about 20 percent the cost of commercial off-the-shelf devices. The news here is that this technology is allowing extraordinary suites of autopilots, maps and communications to be available in aircraft that have a price point of a luxury imported car. There are other firms doing open source avionics such as MakerPlane. It’s clearly an area that will see major growth.
What was intriguing about the Avilution demo was the degree to which they had integrated very high-quality adaptive features based on where you were and what you were about to do. For example, handling all the frequency changes in crowded airspace is a real hassle, so they’ve put together a module that puts the most probable next frequency at your fingertips.
Takeaway: Extremely sophisticated electronics integration is now table stakes for consumer devices of all kinds; think autos and recreational vehicles. Look for this to explode in the near future as manufacturers compete to provide you with extraordinary experiences at very good price points. You won’t need to buy a Tesla S to get integrated Google maps for much longer.
Trend 2: The unexpected effect of Light Sport Aviation Rules, and the neat aircraft that are emerging.
Many have been watching the Light Sport Aircraft movement since the rules were published in 2004, and the category is giving rise to some really interesting new aircraft. It’s fascinating that it has taken over a decade for people to really start innovating within the category by changing the overall pilot experience. The surprise here is that this category was designed to be a gateway for new pilots by creating a lower barrier to entry. What is happening, however, is that mature pilots are using it as a way to exit when they no longer need their (expensive) IFR high-altitude speedsters.
The category has always had its share of good solid little planes, but the trend I would like to highlight here comes from manufacturers like Carbon Cub and Just Aircraft which have developed a new breed of very capable airplanes that take off and land in very short spaces – and are very forgiving. These aircraft are landing at about half the speed of a normal category aircraft, in the range of 30-40 knots. For comparison, traditional aircraft like a Cessna need to land at about 60 knots of airspeed, and landing length is proportional to the square of speed. This low speed, combined with large, cushy tires, greatly improves the safety in the low end of the flight envelope, which is a very big deal.
They are also finding very creative ways to certify the power plants in a way that allows them to have sufficient power for good carrying capacity, while at the same time throttling back to meet the limits of the standards. Some may see having more power on takeoff as a way to skirt the restrictions, but my thought is that as long as it’s inside the envelope of the rules, and it increases safety, it’s fair game.
Takeaway: Rule making and standards always have a huge delayed effect on the marketplace. The reason, is that standards are repurposed to meet secondary needs that the original standards designers did not anticipate. For instance, Bluetooth was designed to be a fixed short-range network to eliminate desktop computer cables, not the mobile powerhouse link it has become.
What standards are being changed now in your industry that you need to be on top of? What derivative use will be the big winner?
Trend 3: The dark side of pilots’ overdependence on technology.
I’m a licensed instrument pilot, and each year I take advantage of the large number of world-class teachers on hand at Oshkosh to get a good safety briefing. Several of the forums I attended spoke to the startling number of “magenta line” crashes that are occurring.
For non pilots, the magenta line is that line that appears on our GPS navigation devices when we have a flight destination programmed into them. It then becomes very easy to “fly the line,” and perhaps even engage the autopilot to do the task for us.
The issue is that as pilots, we are taught to take into account all aspects of the flight – particularly weather – so we can make adjustments for its overall safety. It turns out that many accidents are now occurring where the pilot flies the aircraft into an unsafe place or circumstance after being lulled into a false sense of security by “the box.” The airlines spotted this as a key issue in the late 90’s as documented in a very well done American Airlines video here called Children of Magenta. A recent discussion with a colleague on this point led me to this video, which does a great job of telling the truth of how automation can actually increase the workload on pilots during times of major transition – and reduce the overall safety of the outcome.
A secondary and non-trivial example is that pilots are encountering many more airspace incursion issues than before. They assume that the circle they see on their display is the same circle that the controller is seeing on the ground. It turns out that ground based radar is actually less accurate than the GPS in the plane, and pilots are “busting” airspace right and left, with consequences of suspended licenses being common.
Takeaway: Even as we all integrate more and more technology into our lives, the need to live as fully operational, decision making humans is even more important. We need to always be monitors of technology, bending it to our purpose, not the other way around. The business takeaway is this: how do we push technology back into the shadows as an augmentation, not a distraction? As an example, think about how autos have gently added blind spot detection and collision avoidance software.
If you are a business leader who is accountable for growth in your firm, I’d love to talk about these takeaways with you and learn more about your challenges. Feel free to call me at 847-651-1014 to have a chat.
