Air travel is among the safest forms of transportation, but the idea of flying with the same ease as driving a car seems like a fantasy even for experienced pilots.
Fatal airliner accidents have decreased consistently over the past 50 years, based on data collected by the Aviation Safety Network. Currently, there is roughly one fatality for every two million flights. This indicates that, on average, a fatal aviation accident happens only after more than 2 million flights.
Flying an airplane is statistically considered safer than driving. However, data from the National Travel and Safety Board (NTSB) shows that private airplanes are far more dangerous by an order of magnitude.
For large commercial airliners, there are fewer than 0.01 fatalities for every 100,000 hours of flight. In contrast, private airplanes have over 2.3 fatalities per 100,000 hours. This means that a person is 200 times more likely to die in a private airplane than in a commercial airliner.
But what if flying a small aircraft could be safer than the current numbers suggest? This is a question posed by Nikita Ermoshkin, the founder and CEO of Airhart, a Los Angeles-based company dedicated to creating “the easiest-to-fly and safest airplane ever engineered.”
Ermoshkin, an aerospace engineer with a resume that includes a professional career at SpaceX, did not grow up dreaming of ways to simplify flight. But when he began flying almost five years ago, he noticed that general aviation aircraft seemed old-fashioned and outdated. Wanting to fix this issue, Ermoshkin left SpaceX and founded Airhart Aeronautics.
Ermoshkin realized the technology for general aviation needed to evolve – and so did the boundaries of what is possible in aviation. The joy of being able to visit different cities without a long drive inspired the creation of the new small aircraft, the Airhart Sling.
AeroTime spoke with Ermoshkin about the Airhart Sling and how it aims to make flying easier and improve safety for small aircraft.
General aviation aircraft – way outdated?
In the US, most travel between cities is done by car, with public transportation often not covering long distances. Data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), shows that American make 1.3 trillion person-miles of long distance travel a year on about 2.6 billion long distance trips. Most of these long trips, about 98%, are to destinations within the US, and 62% are to locations within the traveler’s home state.
The US has a vast aviation network with more than 19,000 airports, including around 400 for commercial use. Given there is both the infrastructure and the technology, why isn’t everyone flying airplanes?
Ermoshkin believes that is because small airplane technology has not advanced much and remains outdated. Generally, flying a small aircraft is complex and about 27 times riskier than driving a car, Pilot Institute data shows. Many of the technologies used are old, which contributes to frequent accidents, often caused by losing control of the aircraft.
“Given where other industries are technology wise, I want to bring general aviation into the 21st century with modern technology, automation and a lot many more safety features to make flying much easier, much simpler and much safer, such that anyone could do it,” Ermoshkin told AeroTime.
Aircraft to revolutionize flying
When flying a general aviation aircraft, there are multiple control inputs to manage. This includes moving the control stick, adjusting the power, and monitoring up to six different instruments at once. Ermoshkin said that pilots, regardless of their experience, can become distracted, which may result in a series of events that could lead to accidents.
The Airhart Sling is a simplified flight control vehicle, featuring easy-to-fly controls that feel much more like a modern car than a traditional aircraft. The key feature of this aircraft is the Airhart Assist technology. This system uses a computer to keep track of the aircraft’s condition and manage its movements by sending commands electronically instead of using mechanical systems.
“Airhart Assist is a digital control system,” Ermoshkin explained. “Basically, you control the aircraft with a control stick that looks similar to a video game joystick. The computer does all the math, physics and aerodynamics of flying and actually moves the control surfaces to execute every maneuver perfectly. Imagine all the features you have in cars – they all help you drive in different ways. Our system kind of does that but for flying.”
Ermoshkin said that he served as the test pilot for all the test flights of the Sling aircraft prototype. He mentioned that the key engineering and safety issues in creating the Sling aircraft are maintaining high safety standards and meeting tight deadlines for the launch.
“The newer features that we have are still in development,” Ermoshkin stated. “We haven’t gotten to test flying them yet, but overall, the core of what we built so far flies smoothly enough that I’ll forget that I’m flying our system and not flying manually.”
“For existing pilots flying the Sling won’t feel super foreign as it has this extra level of protection,” he added. “It feels intuitive of how you fly. For new pilots, it will feel much easier to do than existing aircraft.”
FAA regulations for home-built aircraft
When discussing the timeline for the Sling aircraft’s market entry, Ermoshkin noted that it will first be classified as a home-built experimental aircraft. This classification means that aircraft like the Airhart Sling are not certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or any other regulatory bodies around the world.
The Airhart Sling falls under the FAA’s experimental category, specifically for amateur-built aircraft. The FAA defines an amateur-built aircraft as an aircraft “the major portion of which has been fabricated and assembled by person(s) who undertook the construction project solely for their own education or recreation.”
Experimental aircraft cannot carry people or property for payment without FAA permission and have limitations for flying overpopulated areas or busy airways unless they receive special approval. FAA rules require amateur builders to construct at least 51% of their aircraft for educational or recreational purposes.
The FAA is planning to enhance the safety and performance of Light Sport Aircraft operations. This effort is part of the proposed Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) rule issued in July 2023.
Under the proposal, the weight limit for these aircraft will depend on their stall speed. The new rule would allow vehicles weighing up to 3,000 pounds to be classified as Light Sport Aircraft, which is more than double the current limit of 1,320 pounds.
The rule would also expand the type of aircraft sport pilots can operate and allow them to use their aircraft for a wider range of operations. Although sport pilots could operate aircraft designed with up to four seats, they would remain limited to operating with only one passenger.
“With MOSAIC, the process for getting licenses in simplified flight control vehicles like ours will greatly reduce the amount of hours you need to spend to get your pilot’s license,” Ermoshkin added. “You will still have to learn all the rules, just like you do when you get your driver’s license.”
The company said that the Sling aircraft will cost $500,000, and deliveries are set to start in 2026.
What will aviation look like in 10 years?
In the coming 10 years, Ermoshkin expects to see many more aircraft flying in the Light Sport category. With the expanded weight and speed limits set under the MOSAIC regulations, more aircraft will be available for regional travel.
These new aircraft will include many modern features since they won’t be limited by certification rules. Ermoshkin also mentioned that there will be a rise in electric and alternative propulsion systems, in addition to the common gasoline engines used in the US.
“Hopefully we can show that we can bring modern innovation and modern technology to the aviation world,” Ermoshkin added. “Ultimately the goal is to make flying safer and easier so more people would do it. My hope is that we can inspire other companies to develop new safety technologies.”
