VoiceFlight Systems just received the FAA certification for their VFS101 pilot speed recognition system. With this unit it’s possible to command Garmin GPS using vocal commands. The system is activated by pressing a dedicated button on the yoke and then interprets what the pilots is saying.

If you ever entered an IFR flight plan in a GNS 430 / 530 or G1000, you know how long this process can be. Inner knob to select a letter, outer know to go to the next, then enter to validate, and do it atgain for the next waypoint. With the VFS101, it’s as simple as pressing the button and saying “KILO OSCAR NOVEMBER INDIA LIMA ENTER”. The system also recognizes airways and direct to instructions.

If you’re skeptical, check the video demonstration on VoiceFlight Systems website. They present the entry of a complex IFR flight plan using their system, then demonstrate the use of the direct to feature. During the whole demo, a small inset shows someone entering the same flight plan using the knobs. By the end, the guy doing it manually does not even reach half of it, not to mention entering direct instructions or validate it.

Light aircraft are not yet equipped with computers as sophisticated as 2001 – A Space Odyssey’s “HAL” or Alien’s “Mother” but this is a first step. Is this good ? Definitely yes. The Garmin buttonology can be a challenge. The VFS101 is a great time saver while on the ground and allows for flight plan update en-route without stopping to scan the instruments. This is a great safety improvement for single IFR operations.

Multi-crew operations rely on the flying pilot / non-flying pilot to relieve the pilot actually flying the aircraft from this kind of tasks. The non-flying pilots manages the communication and the navigation tasks. When an updated clearance is received from ATC, the non-flying pilot updates the flight plan in the navigation system. The VFS101 is not (yet ?) smart enough to interpret an ATC clearance, but it simplifies the way the pilot enters the changes in the GPS.

This can be particularly good when flying complex instrument departures. They often include lots of intersections which must be programmed in the GPS only to be by-passed by direct-to or vector clearances followed by a direct-to. Managing that, plus power settings and level-off in climb can rapidly increase the pilot’s workload, and focusing on a GPS flight plan amendment can make the situation more critical.

The VFS101  is one more step towards automation and pilot workload reduction, and this adds a supplementary safety margin in single pilot IFR operations.