UK Civil Aviation Authority ponders vertiports for flying taxis
- Reference: 1706183534
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/01/25/uk_civil_aviation_authority_ponders/
- Source link:
While electrically powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – or air taxis, if you will – continue to teeter on the edge of science fiction and reality, the CAA [1]has launched a consultation on how these vehicles might work locally.
The UK has hundreds of aerodromes dotted around the country, ideal for vertiports where eVTOL aircraft can ply their trade. According to the CAA, a vertiport is a site "used for the arrival, departure, and surface movement of VTOL aircraft." The authority reckons that the electrically powered flying machines "have the potential to provide more efficient and sustainable ways to travel between cities and airports."
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Hmm. There are plenty of ways to connect cities and communities that do not require filling the skies with drones-on-steroids. Trains spring effortlessly to mind but lack the "cool" factor of a flying taxi.
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Using the existing UK aerodrome infrastructure is the part that does make sense. Existing aerodromes are already equipped to handle aviation activities, and using them will give VTOL aircraft somewhere to operate while the industry and regulators familiarize themselves with how this brave new world could actually work.
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The CAA will look at the additional safety requirements for existing aerodromes, including dealing with obstacles and adding visual aids, rescue and firefighting services, and the design of operating areas.
Sophie O'Sullivan, Head of Future Safety and Innovation, noted that the consultation was a step toward making VTOL travel a part of everyday life and said: "UK aerodromes are vital in unlocking the future of aviation operations. By leveraging existing regulation, we're enabling future operators and aerodromes to develop their understanding and operational expertise, at the same time as growing our collective knowledge of the technology and operational scenarios to support this infrastructure."
Electric VTOL vehicles have long enjoyed the status of being almost here. In 2022, American Airlines [9]committed to making pre-delivery payments for 50 Vertical Aerospace VX4 eVTOL aircraft. In a [10]letter to shareholders [PDF] at the end of last year, Vertical Aerospace said it was targeting Type Certification in late 2026 and was expecting its next Permit to Fly – required for testing – from the CAA in 2024.
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The UK is not alone in pondering vertiport infrastructure. In 2023, Skyports showed off a [12]roadmap for delivering a vertiport network in Dubai for launch in 2026. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.caa.co.uk/newsroom/news/evtol-operations-a-step-closer-in-the-uk-as-aviation-regulator-looks-at-vertiport-design-proposals/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZbKTvxmsAApIVysfyA90SAAAAY8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZbKTvxmsAApIVysfyA90SAAAAY8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZbKTvxmsAApIVysfyA90SAAAAY8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/03/philippines_air_traffic_outage/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/01/dundee_satellite_station/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/19/airspeeder_alauda_drone_investigation_with_photos/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2013/03/26/geeks_guide_adastral_park/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/18/american_airlines_vx4/
[10] https://vertical-aerospace.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/VA-PR-q3-23.pdf
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZbKTvxmsAApIVysfyA90SAAAAY8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://skyports.net/skyports-infrastructures-design-for-vertiports-approved-in-dubai/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I'm really not sure I understand what the CAA is saying here.... I'd have thought that helicopters are permitted to fly from most of the aerodromes they are referring to, so nothing is really changing, apart from the fact that flying cars can't autorotate and rely on redundancy in having extra rotors in the event of a single rotor failure, which will no doubt be regulated separately from whether helicopters and other vtol aircraft can operate from a given location.
It's mostly a plea for budget from the CAA - but helicopters and VTOL drones have very different performance and flight profiles, including single rotor failure, as you indicate, but also including how they turn and the most energy-efficient paths for taxi, take-off, and landing. There is certainly some work to do here, if for no other reason than to make politicians and those responsible for legislating and budgeting for these things aware of the (much more significant than people realize) differences.
"Trains spring effortlessly to mind but lack the "cool" factor of a flying taxi."
They also lack affordability, running-on-time-or-at-all-ness and have been known to suffer from the wrong-kind-of-leaves-on-the-line-ness. Parsnips on the line at Charing cross is probably just a rumour.
Flying taxis, on the other hand, may well be cool, but I don't think I'd be travelling in one any time soon, and I suspect lots of others wouldn't trust them either.
Still, there will always be some brave early adopters willing to risk life and limb to some self-flying contraption, so I guess it makes sense to plan ahead.
Trains are also constrained to run anywhere there are tracks, and its notoriously difficult to run any new tracks anywhere where there aren't already any tracks (largest HS2 issue was nimbys not wanting new tracks around). VTOL aircraft can go point-to-point.
Current VTOLS eg helicopters are extremely loud, and have that single-rotor single point of failure, making it important to limit potential flight paths and have quite heavy regulation. e-Taxis that rely on electric motors and 4 or more rotors improve on both those points, so one would imagine that they could be licensed to fly in some places where helicopters aren't. Not to say, of course, that they should be completely let loose!
An e-VTOL that loses a rotor is harder to control than a helicopter that loses its main rotor because a helicopter in autorotation is still subject to fairly balanced forces, whereas the rotors of the e-VTOL are no longer balanced (it will pull in the direction opposite to the missing rotor and will be very difficult to get it to go in any other direction, including straight down.
They're not taxis
"travel between cities and airports" - More like a shuttle service between approved vertiports than a go-anywhere taxi.
Besides, being VTOL, they don't need to taxi to a runway ;-)
Re: They're not taxis
I just don't see the point in flying taxis that mean you need to take another 2 taxis to get to and from the flying taxi. Which makes it more like a private plane or chopper, and about as accessible to the general population.
Don't expect this to go anywhere quickly.
> The UK has hundreds of aerodromes dotted around the country...
Not hundreds, around 75-100 licensed aerodromes in the UK. You can lookup on CAA website.
Mostly situated "not-in-my-back-yard" because folks complain about them and are constantly trying to get them shutdown (because current aviation is noisy).
Take the train if you want to get anywhere close to your city destination. Go to an aerodrome if you want to be in the countryside.
And don't expect this to be inexpensive. Virtually all aerodromes in the UK charge landing fees, and currently expect the aircraft 'pilot / automaton' to communicate with the Ground/Tower in order to receive navigation instructions. Otherwise, how will they be able to avoid the other aircraft (typically with human pilots) also using the aerodrome, following Standard Operating Procedures.
Yes, all of this will 'sort-out', but it won't be "next year".
BTW Flying taxis have existed for around 75 years already and they're called Helicopters.
Flying cars???
Flying cars are the least of two words - drives better than a Cessna, flies better than a Buick, as they said.
Surprised nobody's thought of bringing back Fairey Rotodynes from Battersea Heliport!