FlyShirley at FSExpo24
A look back at a successful world debut with the flight simulator community
Two weeks ago, FlyShirley.com made its public debut at FSExpo24 in Las Vegas, Nevada. What an awesome experience!
The team at XPlane was extremely gracious in letting us share “the biggest stage in flight sims.” On Friday, founder Alex List wrapped up a day of exciting flight simulation and developer announcements by introducing the packed crowd to our exciting new product, FlyShirley.com. He explained how Shirley can enrich the flight simulation experience by offering an entirely new way of interacting with simulators.
Opening up about how a recent aviation accident and loss of a friend inspired him to search for a new solution to help pilots fly safer, he shared his vision for how Shirley will help pilots fly smarter from sim to sky. From helping pilots find frequencies to providing guidance in IMC, he shared how Shirley will one day be used in real aircraft, but why it just made sense to launch with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable sim community. Check out a recap of Alex’s speech below:
The murmurs in the audience and spike in website traffic revealed that viewers were intrigued by the new technology and the new Challenges feature. And we don’t blame them! In addition to all the varied use cases, Shirley is just fun! Still, the team had one goal going into the expo: let people experience Shirley.
A new way to sim…
Let’s face it: AI can be weird. From deep fakes to hallucinations and advice to eat rocks, we understand the skepticism. Still, we know that when applied properly, AI can shift paradigms. Shirley, combined with XPlane 12.1’s new websocket feature, can completely change an otherwise silent and sometimes isolating sim experience.
We knew that as soon as pilots and sim enthusiasts interacted with Shirley, they’d be hooked because, quite frankly, we are too! The capabilities of this new product are already mind-blowing, and as someone who uses it and develops it every day, FlyShirley constantly manages to surprise me.
So, we thought, “Yeah, they may be nervous, they may feel awkward, but once they use it, they’ll love it.”
And we were right.
It was amazing to see simmers, pilots, gamers and streamers of all ages and nationalities interact with Shirley using the new Challenges feature. Each time, the apprehension was palpable. But the STOL Challenge invited users in as a gateway to understand Shirley’s capabilities, and with every attempt, that apprehension transformed into awe… and massive smiles.
It happened every time.
That’s because Shirley is unlike anything anyone in the flight simulation or aviation world has ever seen! It’s because Shirley is smart. Shirley is fast. And Shirley solves a problem that, until now, no other product has solved. Shirley has the potential to make flight training cheaper, faster, and—importantly—more fun!
As customers began to understand that there is no one way to talk to Shirley, and that Shirley will respond intelligently no matter what you throw at it, I think they began to realize what Airplane Team knew all along—this could be huge.
Whether you are using Shirley as a training aid, to build challenges and test your skills, or just as a friendly copilot while you fly smarter in the sim, the technology for Shirley is enriching because it is state of the art. We are using the most advanced AI technology available. Best of all, it’s getting better every day!
Airplane Team was thrilled and thankful by the enthusiastic feedback and warm embrace we received from the flight sim community. The suggestions and ideas we had from hobbyists, students, and industry leaders alike has provided even more motivation to make this product better for each and every user.
If you haven’t already, head over to FlyShirley.com to sign up for a free trial and give Shirley a try yourself. Test out or build your own challenges, or just enjoy the feeling of flying with a copilot like the pros. And be sure to reach out to us at contact@airplane.team with questions or feedback. We love hearing from customers and can’t wait to see where Shirley takes all of us.
Thanks again to everyone we met and who tried Shirley. We are truly grateful for the sim community, and can’t wait to see you in Providence next year.
Fly safe!
