Hanneke Weitering is a writer and editor with AIN covering advanced air mobility and new flight technologies. She became an aviation journalist and joined the AIN team in the summer of 2022 after reporting on spaceflight and astronomy for six years at Space.com. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she moved to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in science, health, and environmental reporting at New York University&#039;s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. After spending several years in the Pacific Northwest, she has returned to the Knoxville area.

Science & Technology Editor

Hanneke Weitering

Flight automation specialist Skyryse has successfully flown a Cirrus SR22 piston airplane equipped with its SkyOS operating system and fly-by-wire controls, the company announced on Tuesday at NBAA-BACE 2025. The inaugural flight of the highly automated SR22 marks the first time Skyryse has demonstrated the SkyOS system on an airplane, following years of flight tests in Robinson R44 and R66 helicopters.
Skyryse’s modified SR22 piston single achieved the milestone flight last week at the company’s flight-test center in Camarillo, California, with senior director of flight test Miguel Mármol at the helm, a Skyryse spokeswoman told AIN.&nbsp;This week at NBAA-BACE, Skyryse is showcasing an airplane simulator to demonstrate the SkyOS capabilities.
On Monday, Skyryse announced a $112 million agreement with special missions operator Dynamic Aviation to integrate SkyOS on another airplane—the Beechcraft King Air—to provide fully autonomous, attritable UAS for the U.S. military. <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/news-article/2021-05-26/merlin-labs-partners-special-missions-operator-convert-king-airs-autonomous?_gl=1*1vxueaj*_gcl_au*MTIyODY3MTE0Ny4xNzU5MTYwNjY3">Dynamic Aviation</a> has previously partnered with Merlin, another flight automation company, to convert up to 55 King Air twin turboprops.
“Technology is reshaping the battlefield, and with SkyOS integration into attritable airplanes, we can radically expand operational reach and kinetic effects in previously denied areas,” said Warren Curry, v-p of sales at Skyryse. “With an aircraft-agnostic design, SkyOS provides the military with a cost-effective, mission-ready system that enhances operational flexibility—unlocking force amplification.”

Skyryse expects to obtain its first supplemental type certificate (STC) from the FAA next year for the modified Robinson R66, called <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-10-04/faa-issues-special-airworthiness-cert-skyryse-one">Skyryse One</a>. “We have 100% means of compliance. We have our design approval from the FAA, and we're in for-credit testing for our final STC,” Curry told AIN.
The California-based company is developing the aircraft-agnostic SkyOS flight automation system to reduce pilot workload, make aviation safer, and eventually enable optionally-piloted flight capabilities on uncrewed aircraft.
SkyOS consists of both software and hardware—“every component, from the actuators to the motor control boxes to the flight control computers, to the single control stick, all the way to the user interface, and all the 1.3 million lines of code that go with it,” Curry explained. “All that is built to bring a new level of automation, simplicity, and safety into aviation platforms.”
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News and issues relating to civil and military unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) of all kinds and sizes, including those used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), combat (unmanned combat air vehicles, or UCAVs), law enforcement, research and other applications. Of particular focus is the FAA's planned integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system.

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