You’d be forgiven for not having heard of FlyWithAI before. With the rise of generative AI and LLMs over the past 3 years or so, we are seeing the technology work its way into all sorts of different use cases, and this company is aiming to make flight sim one of them.
At least, that’s the vision of Luke Chudleigh, the founder of Predictive Dynamics, the parent company behind the FlyWithAI product. And following FSExpo, the company are offering something quite unique for IRL student pilots – a one off fee for full access to the platform, covering you up until you pass your check ride. This new offering is being called “Fly with AI Pro” and is priced at $499.99.
I got a chance to chat with Luke at the FlyWithAI booth in Providence last weekend to discuss the product and find out what it’s all about.
From what I can ascertain, the company has built what they called Bernoulli. Bernoulli is an AI assistant that can guide the simmer though various manoeuvres and procedures on the ground and in the air, and it covers the entire syllabus for a (FAA) PPL course, with aspirations to include CPL and IFR ratings in the near future.
Stripping it right back to it’s bare bones though, it is like an LLM hooked up to a live readout of various parameters coming from your in-sim aircraft, a bit like a virtual ACARS software. From this it can see how you’re flying, identify where corrections need to be made or the quality of flying is sub-standard, and correct you as you go.
Bernoulli is also hooked up to what Luke calls the “Model Predictive Controller”. This is another system which his company have developed, which he says is able to look ahead and, based on the aircraft’s current attitude, speed, position, and other telemetry, make an informed estimate as to what each of those parameters will look like in 5, 10, 15 seconds from now. With this, the AI is always able to stay ahead of the aircraft, just as any good pilot should be too.
What more, since it is an AI that responds to prompts, you can talk to it as you fly. So for example, you could ask it while you’re in a turn if you should be applying more or less rudder, and in which direction – and it will respond accordingly based on what it can see from your aircraft’s current attitude and situation.
I was fortunate enough to give this a go on the show floor. I decided to go for a simple maneouvre from the syllabus – a climb and descent. I was instructed to climb at a constant rate of 700 fpm and a speed of 89 kts in my Cessna 172. So I applied throttle, trimmed it out, but Bernoulli was straight onto me if my rate of climb dipped or the speed dropped. After climbing 1000 ft and re-establishing my level flight, I was instructed to descend, again at 89 kts and -700 fpm. Once again, Bernoulli was quick to let me know if I was deviating from any aspect of the profile. Pretty quickly I worked out that my speed was generally pretty good, but I was over-trimming the aircraft and having to continually re-apply corrections in the other direction.
“You don’t know what you don’t know” says Luke. And the idea behind Bernoulli is to spot the weaker points within your overall flying knowledge set and draw your attention to them for improvement, like a kind of personal trailer.
Right now, Bernoulli only supports FAA and ICAO region curriculums, however Luke wants to broaden his scope to include EASA training programs.
For more information on FlyWithAI and Bernoulli, check out their website here.
