New technology, a few iPads and a quick tutorial can help anyone behave like a pilot. Dealing with air traffic control is another matter.

Camarillo, California — I flew a helicopter over Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, on a recent Wednesday afternoon.

I took off from a small airport, climbed to about 10,000 feet, and then leaned steeply along the eastern skyline of Camarillo towards the hills. Following a canal winding through the orange orchard below, I swiftly crossed the valley and then circumvented back to the airport. I lowered the helicopter to a hovering state, and then landed gently at the end of the concrete runway.

The flight time is short, but it is of great significance. After all, I am not a pilot.

This helicopter is equipped with new technologies designed to simplify and automate the operation of passenger aircraft. I fly using two Apple iPads and a joystick installed in the cockpit. I can take off, turn, spin, accelerate, climb, dive, hover, and land by tapping the screen or turning the joystick, just like I'm flying in the digital space of a video game.

This system, called FlightOS, provides a glimpse into the future of flying. Skyryse, a Southern California startup that designed FlightOS, said it is working with major aircraft manufacturers to deploy the technology to everything from helicopters to small jets. Other companies, including the well-known helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin), are also designing similar technologies.

Some manufacturers say that they will eventually remove the pilot from the cockpit, thus making their aircraft fully automated, while using many of the same technologies that support self-driving cars. But self-driving cars are a long way from daily life, and so are self-driving airplanes. Most experts believe that automated systems will require pilot supervision in the next few years—perhaps ten years or more.

Skyryse is a 50-person start-up company that has received $250 million in funding. They spent years developing and testing a system that can fly by itself, using cameras, radars and other sensors to track and respond to aircraft in flight Surrounding environment. Many experts believe that this system is easier to perfect than self-driving car technology because there are fewer air traffic and other activities. But the company has realized that regulators are unlikely to approve autonomous flight in the short term.

Instead, Skyryse and similar companies are trying to reach a compromise. Skyryse CEO Mark Groden said: “We can build an autonomous plane and fly it.” But humans still need to be the ultimate decision makers. "

With billions of dollars in funding, many start-ups are making what are commonly referred to as "flying cars." Like helicopters, these vehicles can take off and land without a runway. Unlike today’s airplanes, they are completely electric. Many people believe that these planes can provide a faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly way to commute to cities.

But this will require a lot more pilots than the 360,000 flying today. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, with the deployment of new aircraft in American cities, the total number may climb to an estimated 590,000 in the next ten years.

Although some flying car manufacturers say that their aircraft will fly without a pilot, most experts believe that regulators will not be able to approve autonomous flight until the end of this decade at the earliest.

Ian Villa, chief product officer of electric aircraft company Whisper Aero and former head of strategy for Uber’s electric aircraft project, said: “We have a lot of building blocks for autonomous flight.” “The real problem is you. Can it really enter the market."

Mr. Groden hopes to fill this gap with FlightOS. FlightOS is a system designed for various aircraft, including helicopters, jets and flying cars. Manufacturers will spend tens of thousands of dollars on this technology to be integrated into multi-million dollar aircraft.

By adding automation to the operations of these aircraft, Mr. Groden and his company can expand the number of available pilots. If flying is easier and safer, novices can master this skill faster. If systems like FlightOS are widely used, experienced pilots can quickly master new aircraft. But even this arrangement has not yet been approved by regulators, and it may take several years.

I am not a video game player, let alone a pilot. But sitting in the hangar at Camarillo Airport, I learned the basics of the Skyryse system in about 15 minutes. After another 15 minutes, I was strapped to the pilot seat of a sleek black helicopter.

Driving a 2,500-pound helicopter with an iPad is exciting and fun, but also a bit nerve-wracking. During the 30-minute flight, my biggest problem was the strong glare from the Southern California sun from the iPad and sometimes my glasses.

But there is a warning: when I was flying, a licensed pilot was sitting next to me. He talked to me during the entire flight and usually checked me. Once, I turned my head to the east and twisted the joystick a little too confidently. He reached over and grabbed the joystick to correct my attitude.

New technologies require more than 15 minutes of training. Although I can turn, twist, and climb, I cannot handle radio communications with air traffic controllers during takeoff and landing, and I need help setting up a route through the valley. Learning these tasks can ultimately be more daunting and difficult than flying an airplane.

Jessica Rajkowski, head of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems at Mitre, a non-profit organization that runs the R&D center, said: “You still need people trained in communication protocols, flight speed and altitude, and system operation. A safe place." The Federal Aviation Administration.

Taking a helicopter to remind people that artificial intelligence is a work in progress. Even the most advanced technology—everything from chatbots to robots—is best used with humans, not in place of humans.

Skyryse hopes to improve its technology in the next few years to further automate aircraft operations in a way that reduces reliance on the expertise of air traffic controllers and pilots. The goal is not to fly autonomously. Thanks to the huge regulatory hurdles faced by this technology, the goal is to make anyone a pilot.

"Today, anyone can drive a car," said Igor Cherepinsky, Sikorsky's director of innovation. "What if someone can fly an airplane?"