The Serious Side of Shirley
Flying with FlyShirely.com is fun, but its value proposition is no joke!
Last week, we got to see the entertaining side of FlyShirley.com thanks to a pretty awesome video from YouTuber Swiss001. We loved the enthusiasm he showed while interacting with Shirley, and we encouraged all users to have fun with Shirley. Because Shirley is FUN! But, like Ogres—or cake—Shirley is an AI of many layers. And beneath the witty banter and quips, we designed Shirley to provide a very serious service.
In fact, the idea for Shirley was born out of the most serious of goals: to make pilots safer.
The idea is simple, but two-fold. First, use technology to improve flight training and, as a result, produce more competent, proficient pilots from the start. Second, adapt that same technology for use in a real airplane
to help pilots in high workload environments. At FlyShirley.com, we are leveraging the most advanced developments in Artificial Intelligence to do this efficiently and cost effectively.
Training
The Problem
The financial barriers to flight training are undeniable. According to AOPA, Students can expect to dish out between $6,000 and $20,000 to obtain their private pilot certificate (you do it for anywhere near $6k, give me a call… I want to shake your hand). And that’s just for a PPL!
In this pricing paradigm, prospective students are left with few options. Mainstream advice to afford this first step on a long road of becoming a professional pilot is to work multiple jobs, take out loans, finance training, compete for scholarships… even mow lawns?
Instead of accepting the status quo of just making do (which many potential pilots simply cannot), we decided to focus on making flight training more accessible, both in terms of time and money.
While we know Shirley will never replace flight training, Shirley can certainly augment flight training. Imagine the very common case of a student pilot learning to fly on weekends (we’ll assume they are spending Monday-Friday mowing lawns). On one Saturday, the student learns about a power-on stall. The lesson ends, the student mows some more lawns, and they return the following Saturday. They go back up with their instructor (charging $80/hour) and get ready to review a power-on stall. Here’s the problem: our hardworking lawn mower forgets how to set up for the power-on stall. So instead of spending the rest of lesson working on crosswind landings, they spend time redoing power-on stalls again and again. Pressed for time, the instructor only has time to demonstrate the crosswind landing technique once when they land and close out the training flight.
And the next week, the cycle repeats.
If you’ve ever flown, you know what I’m talking about. It’s painful, frustrating and, at ~$200-$300/hour, expensive!
So what’s a student pilot to do? The common advice:
“Do all your training as fast as possible.”
“Study often, do all your training quickly, and chair fly.”
“Watch videos from Sporty’s, Kings, [insert antiquated, overpriced online training services here]”
Again… come on.
The Solution
FlyShirley.com is changing that. With an aviation-specific AI agent—an AI Copilot—students can finally practice at home effectively.
Shirley is interactive:
Pilots can get realistic instruction and real-time feedback from Shirley when connected to X-Plane 12.1 (and soon MSFS) just like they would from a real instructor. No more PowerPoints or videos. Learn by doing.
Shirley is smart:
Thanks to a knowledgeable development team and careful engineering, Shirley’s knowledge base is focused on aviation, ensuring accurate information. It provides specific training modules to help student pilots review and learn in a logical flow.
Shirley is accessible:
You can use Shirley with X-Plane1, Microsoft Flight Simulator, or no simulator at all! Login to Shirley, start a call, and ask questions. It’s that simple. You can use Shirley on a desktop, laptop, tablet or phone. Long drive to the airfield? Ask Shirley to help you review procedures and study for your written on the way.
Shirley is affordable:
$10/month. Enough said.
FlyShirley.com uses the latest technology available to make all this possible, providing state of the art service for general aviation student pilots. With Shirley, our lawn mower can review with realistic feedback throughout the week from the comfort of his home, arriving prepared to progress during his in-flight training. He’ll cut cost, speed up his training, and be a more proficient pilot. And when he makes a career out of flying (ya know… because he could actually afford to finish his training), his commercial sim training will integrate Shirley too…
In Flight
As we learn more about how student and professional pilots use Shirley in simulators, we gain a better understanding of the demands and capabilities required of an inflight AI Copilot. This will allows us to adapt Shirley for use in real planes.
One day, Shirley will be used to help pilots pull up approach plates, find frequencies, receive weather, run checklists, and even navigate. These features will prove critical in times of high workload, like unexpected weather, emergency procedures, diversions, or even a simple runway change.
A New Era in Aviation
Shirley won’t change everything, but Shirley will change a lot. About how we learn, how we train, and how we fly.
The team at FlyShirley.com will make flying more accessible. We’ll help solve the pilot shortage. We’ll improve training. And we will make pilots safer. With Shirley, we are going to change the aviation industry.
And yes. We’re serious…
Shirley is currently optimized for XPlane 12.1 thanks to the websocket capability that allows Shirley to connect to the sim and pull real-time data. Similar capability for MSFS will be available in the future.