UAM manufacturers—many of them based in the U.S.—are developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis, electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) planes, and other outlandish aircraft with unique propulsion sources and flight characteristics. These companies have garnered billions in investments and the support of key airline partners, such as United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

No market has been more welcoming, however, than the United Arab Emirates, UAM manufacturers told FLYING in April at the inaugural DriftX—a two-day event in Abu Dhabi that showcased the latest technology in air, land, and sea transportation.

“There’s nowhere on earth that’s been as positive or receptive to what we’re doing here,” said Nikhil Goel, chief commercial officer of eVTOL air taxi manufacturer Archer Aviation.

Help From Above

Archer and other manufacturers cited partnership opportunities with UAE leadership as a major draw for them to bring their services to the country. Goel said he personally has been visiting the UAE for about a decade, dating back to his time with Uber’s short-lived eVTOL venture, Uber Elevate. Even then, the government welcomed the idea of UAM with open arms.

“Back then it was a dream,” Goel said. “Today, it’s here.”

Archer and fellow eVTOL air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation, which also has long-standing ties with Emirati leaders, hope to launch service in the UAE as early as 2025—the same year they expect their aircraft to begin operations in major U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The companies claim these offerings will be cost-competitive with ground-based rideshare services, such as Uber or Lyft.

• READ MORE: Archer Bringing Electric Air Taxis to Los Angeles by 2026

Archer, Joby, and other manufacturers have signed agreements with UAE government and state-backed entities, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), and General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Within them are incentives for hundreds of millions in funding to build ecosystems for eVTOL aircraft.

“There’s been a lot of interest in the region—both here in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai—in this idea of air taxis and what this type of flying mobility can do, for quite a while,” said Eric Allison, chief product officer of Joby.

Chinese manufacturer EHang—which in October achieved the world’s first eVTOL air taxi type certification—and electric seaglider manufacturer Regent Craft are also working with UAE government and state-backed organizations.

“You see what the region is doing with the eVTOLs, with mobility, with building and construction in general…and we’ve only felt supported,” said Billy Thalheimer, CEO of Regent.

Archer, Joby, EHang, Regent, and others have joined Abu Dhabi’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster—a collection of government-backed research and development, testing, and manufacturing facilities within the city. Already, several of them have committed to produce aircraft within SAVI.

Abdulla Al Marzouqi, director general of Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Center—an affiliate of the Emirate’s Department of Municipalities and Transport—said UAE leaders believe UAM technology will be widespread in the future. They’re looking to get ahead of the curve by attracting both manufacturers and private investors.

• READ MORE: Joby Applies for Air Taxi Certification in Australia

Al Marzouqi said the UAE has made climate policy a priority, creating a favorable regulatory environment for UAM companies. The country aims to achieve net-zero emissions across all industries by 2050, with regulations around renewable energies such as green hydrogen already in place.

Henry Hooi, CEO of eSTOL manufacturer Volar Air Mobility—which in April announced its plans to fly in the UAE—said these policies make the country “a fantastic hub for the potential development of green aviation in the region.”

Long term, Al Marzouqi said the government intends to enact UAM regulations across the Emirates. In the meantime, it will continue to invest in existing transportation technologies to bridge the gap as eVTOL air taxis and other outlandish aircraft come online.

The strategy so far has garnered results. In April, ADIO unveiled the UAE’s first operational vertiport, a temporary installation at DriftX. Vertiports, akin to heliports, are designed to accommodate eVTOL and other electric aircraft with infrastructure such as charging stations. The country also hosted the Middle East’s first passenger-carrying eVTOL demo in May, completed by EHang.

Sooner Rather Than Later

UAE leaders have an urgency to deploy eVTOL and other novel aircraft “sooner [rather] than later,” said Allison, which is an attractive proposition for UAM manufacturers.

Both Joby and Archer, for example, claim they will be ready to fly in the country by 2025—the year they expect to obtain FAA type certification. Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, director general of the GCAA, said in October that his agency expects to approve Archer air taxi flights as soon as the company secures the equivalent authorization in the U.S.

Archer CEO Adam Goldstein earlier this year told Aerospace America, “In the UAE, they can make decisions much different than what the regulators here can do.”

• READ MORE: Minnesota’s ‘Jetson Law’ Green-Lights Flying Cars on Roads

Goel told FLYING: “I think it’s really about the attitude. [In the UAE], everyone says, ‘How fast can we get here? What can we do to help?’ There’s nowhere else in the world that’s got that sort of attitude.”

Set Up for Success

Certification is top of mind for UAE leaders. But a massive chunk of the government’s investment is going toward preparing the nation’s infrastructure for an influx of UAM aircraft.

Al Marqouzi said the idea is to set companies up for success by installing vertiports, electric chargers, and other infrastructure before the aircraft begin flying. He said the country is already building a network of electric aircraft charging stations, for example.

In December 2022, the UAE government agreed to a three-year, $40 million investment to build a UAM flight testing and development hub in partnership with VPorts. The same month, it published what it believes to be the world’s first national vertiport regulations. 

In February 2023, Dubai crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved plans to develop a nationwide vertiport network by 2026. Construction on the nation’s first fully operational vertiport at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (OMRK), led by VPorts, is already underway. Another partner, Skyports, is building a site at Dubai International Airport (OMDB).

• READ MORE: Archer Agrees to Potential Air Taxi Sale Worth $580M

U.S. manufacturers are also working directly with these vertiport companies. Joby, for example, is collaborating with Skyports to design, build, and operate three additional vertiport sites in Dubai. Archer and partner Falcon have a similar arrangement, covering locations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

“We need there to be lots of places to take off and land,” said Allison. “And the key to making that possible is to make the infrastructure rapidly deployable and very economical…We’re working on designs for modular infrastructure with integrated ground support equipment that can be very rapidly and efficiently and economically deployed to retrofit existing infrastructure in places like parking garages.”

Dubai and Abu Dhabi, for example, have a combined 350 helipads, according to Archer. By simply installing aircraft charging equipment, those sites could become UAM hubs.

“There’s already a lot of existing infrastructure all over the country in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Goel. “And so as we look at that, we say, ‘A’, we can use that existing infrastructure to our benefit, and ‘B’, there’s a lot of opportunity to build new infrastructure.”

However, Allison acknowledged that there remains “a lot of work that needs to be done to build the ecosystem.”

Market Potential

Beyond the obvious benefits of government support and investment, UAM companies are enticed by the UAE for several reasons.

One unstated reason may be the prevalence of wealth. While Archer, Joby, and other players bill their services as affordable, it could take time for them to become accessible to the average consumer. And the UAE, despite a population composed largely of migrant workers, ranks sixth in the world in GDP per capita. In other words, the country has plenty of premium customers.

“Everyone I’ve talked to here is just salivating at the prospect of being able to get from downtown Dubai to downtown Abu Dhabi in 30 minutes,” said Allison, who noted the UAE’s “incredible economic growth.”

Thalheimer said that Regent was drawn to the country by “a combination of geography, market demands, and then sort of a pro-business and forward leaning approach on innovation and mobility.”

He characterized the UAE as a massive market in the geographical center of the Eastern Hemisphere, rife with coastal population centers. For manufacturers with global ambitions, such as Regent, establishing a presence in such a location can aid in expansion.

“I know that the UAE is going to lead the way,” said Goel. “I know we’re going to be in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and all across the seven emirates. We see an opportunity to scale hundreds of vehicles across the country, and then take what we learn here and spread it all across the Middle East.” 

This feature first appeared in the July/August Issue 949 of the FLYING print edition.

The post The Middle East: Cradle of Urban Air Mobility? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The agency published on Friday a federal register notice requesting public feedback on the study, including ways it can be improved or whether it is practical or necessary. Comments will be incorporated in a follow-up request for approval from the Office of Management and Budget.

“The primary research objective…is to determine if there are statistically significant differences in annoyance between subjects who live in low versus high ambient noise environments, and to determine as a covariate if there is a difference between specific geographical regions,” the notice said.

It stated that because the type of AAM aircraft involved in the study use electrically driven rotors, the noise they generate could restrict where they operate. Therefore, “the human response to noise from these vehicles needs to be better understood to help minimize the noise impact.”

• READ: Keeping It Down to Head Off Noise Complaints

Psychoacoustics—how humans perceive sound—will be used to conduct the study. NASA will use a psychoacoustic test called Varied AAM Noise and Geographic Area Response Difference (VANGARD), which will be administered remotely using a platform developed by NASA’s Langley Research Center.

Participants will be drawn from regions of low and high ambient noise areas in the U.S. “that are likely to see initial AAM/UAM [Advanced Air Mobility/Urban Air Mobility] operations,” according to NASA, such as Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York City.

Siddharth Krishnamurthy, a NASA research aerospace engineer and technical lead for the project, said the test will be administered through a website so that subjects can be tested remotely from their computers.

“Aircraft sound stimuli will be played to test subjects over their computer speakers, and they will listen and respond on how annoyed they are, from not annoyed at all to extremely annoyed,” Krishnamurthy told FLYING.

Data retrieved from this initial part of the study will allow NASA to test additional hypothesis research questions, including:

• Do annoyance responses differ significantly by phase of flight (takeoff, landing, and level cruise) of the AAM/UAM aircraft noise stimuli?
• Do annoyance responses differ significantly as a function of sound level, based on distance from flight operation?
• To what degree are the results explained by objective parameter analyses of the data (e.g., sound quality metrics, spectra, and amplitude envelope)?
• To what degree are the results explained by noise sensitivity, obtained via post-experiment questionnaires?

NASA plans to recruit 360 participants, Krishnamurthy said. The agency is looking to start testing in September and wrap up by November.

• READ: FAA Releases Its ‘Innovate28’ Plan for AAM Integration by 2028

FAA’s Oversight

Krishnamurthy emphasized that NASA does not define noise policy for aircraft. “We provide the technical data to the FAA and to other government agencies so that they can actually define policy,” he said.

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report published on Thursday detailing FAA’s role in overseeing AAM noted that noise management is one of five key areas important to the development of the emerging technology “as the industry develops and the tempo of AAM operations increase.”

The FAA is in the process of reviewing its civil aviation noise policy, including whether to include its current noise metrics for oversight of AAM.

The post NASA Wants to Know if Air Taxis Will Annoy You appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

This dream provoked a vision for JoeBen Bevirt—one he has singularly pursued ever since.

After finding his natural engineering mind on a track at the University of California-Davis, and a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford University, Bevirt founded a series of successful companies in the tech sector. He started Velocity11 in 1999, developing robotic systems for laboratory work. The first iterations of “Joby”—Joby Inc., which produced the Gorillapod, and Joby Energy, focused on aerial wind turbines—came into being prior to the main event, Joby Aviation, which he founded in 2009.

Joby Aviation launched to coalesce Bevirt’s vision of an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft and the transportation system to support and deploy it. Now, as the company surpasses 1,400 employees and celebrates the reveal of its conforming production prototype, the vision sits on the cusp of being fully realized. FLYING talked with Bevirt to illuminate the source of that vision and where it will take Joby next.

FLYING Magazine (FM): So what was it that set off that spark for you when you were that young boy?

JoeBen Bevirt: (JB): I was born and raised far from civilization in a place called Last Chance. Our house was at the edge of a beautiful meadow with fruit trees and a garden nestled among the redwoods overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In the morning I would get a ride to school with one of my parents on their way to work. In the af- ternoon I would either go to a friend’s house and wait or I would take the city bus to the transit station and then take another bus up the coast. I would get off at the bot- tom of Swanton Road and then walk a mile up to Last Chance and then the 4 miles back from Last Chance to my home. It gave me a lot of time to dream about bet- ter ways [of] getting from [point] A to B. I loved where I lived, and I loved my school, but I wanted to be able to expediently get between them.

I imagined an aircraft could take off and land in the meadow. But it was also pretty quiet, and peaceful, and the idea of a really loud aircraft didn’t appeal to me. For me, it was a question of “how do I build an aircraft that is suitable for this serene, beautiful place but that I can take off and land vertically?”

FM: How did you first try to solve that problem?

JB: I inherited my uncle’s collection of model airplane parts including a whole bunch of little model engines—and they were horrifically loud. So, I thought, this is not the answer. They were really fun but really loud. [laughs] Then I started playing with remote-control car motors, and at this point in time, they were these little brushed motors and NiCad batteries, and I mounted props to them, and built many crazy contraptions. This was one of my first experiences with iterative engineering even before I knew what engineering was.

FM: You began working with electric motors, but it took time for them to reach a usable capacity, right?

JB: In 1993 when I was in college, my proficiency with engineering had improved, and I had the opportunity to work for a company doing pioneering work on vertical take off and landing aircraft. Unfortunately, they were horrifically loud. I became convinced that electric propulsion was the critical unlock to make VTOL aircraft part of daily life. NiCad batteries had gotten to 40 or 50 watt hours per kilogram, and there were rumors that the lithium-ion battery was going to move from the lab into production and that Sony was getting close with a cell specific energy of 70 watt hours per kilogram. But even 70 watt hours per kilogram didn’t feel sufficient for a useful endurance.

There were researchers at the DOE [Department of Energy] projecting that lithium ion had the potential to get us to 200 watt hours a kilogram in 20 years. Batteries had been improving by 6 percent a year since the late 1800s, and I figured that it was going to stay on that ramp. But I was 19 years old, and I was thinking, 6 percent a year—it’s going to take 20 years to get to a useful specific energy— that felt like an eternity, and so I put my dream of electric

flight on hold. At Stanford in 1998, I met a guy named JB Straubel who was fixated on building an electric car, and over the years I had the opportunity to experience a few exhilarating test drives in his prototypes. This gave me a front-row seat to the progress being made on batteries. By 2008 I had sourced batteries with a specific energy of 170 watt hours per kilogram and a specific power of more than 1 kilowatt per kilogram, which I believed was sufficient to build a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with 100 miles of range. After a bit of design work and analysis, I founded Joby to bring electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to life. Today we are certifying our aircraft with cells that are more than 280 watt hours per kilogram. And we’ve moved from the idea of making something for an enthusiast to something that could be a new mode of transportation.

FM: So, with that early introduction into electrical and mechanical engineering, it was pretty clear that was your passion. Were there any other directions you thought about going?

JB: No. I loved building things and creating things. But there were no engineers in my family. I remember in seventh grade, my math teacher said, “You’re gonna be an engineer,” and I said, “I don’t wanna drive trains!” and he’s like “No, no, no, no, no…my son’s studying to be an engineer, and I think that you’re going to be an engineer.” And he explained what an engineer was, and I’m like, “That’s it!” So I had my calling since I was really little, but I first had somebody put a name to it in seventh grade. From that point, I was on cruise control, so focused. In high school, I was also really into cycling, so I designed and built one of the world’s first full-suspension mountain bikes, and it was really fun to watch the cycling industry emerge. It was funny back then because all my friends would make fun of me for putting a suspension on a bike, and I said, “But it’s so much better!” And they thought I was weak, like your legs are supposed to be the shock ab- sorbers. But it’s fun to have watched that industry evolve.

FM: So, in graduate school, were there mentors or fellow students that you worked with on the vision?

JB: Right at the beginning of my sophomore year, I went to the dean of the engineering school and said, “You’re teaching computer-aided design wrong. And you’re do- ing a massive disservice to the students, and we have to fix it.” And he said, “‘OK, that’s amusing.” And so he picks up the phone, “Paul, I’ve got somebody for you. Can I send him over?” Click. I ride over to the research park, and I knock on the door, and it says Moller International. There was something that went off in my head, but it didn’t really click. And I walked inside, and there was a picture of this vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and I’m like— wow! And so it was serendipity.

So I went and interned for Paul [Moller] for a quarter, and then I convinced him that I should create an internship program. I had four interns for the next quarter. And then I convinced him that we should expand and have like 12 interns, and this was with a team of like 40 engineers at the time—awesome engineers—and all of a sudden there were 12 interns and the engineers were looking at themselves wondering, “What just happened?” It was my first experience of leading a larger team. Moller had built a whole bunch of breakthrough vertical takeoff and landing aircraft through the ’70s and ’80s. It was cool for me to be able to see the integration of composites and mechanical engineering and electrical engineering and software engineering—and what was needed to…make vertical takeoff and landing aircraft possible.

FM: You’ve built a company centered around a vertically integrated enterprise. You’re not just making the part— you’re figuring out is this the right composition of this base material. Why is having that depth of control over the process critical to the transformative thing that you’re trying to do?

JB: I think to engineer and build the most performant things—whether that’s at the aircraft level or whether that’s at the system level or the component level, or the individual part—you really need to understand all the nuance[s]. And whether that’s in the material properties or that’s in the way that the pieces integrate together, [or] whether [it’s] the way that the systems communicate with one another. I think that one of the pieces that I’m so excited about and passionate about is the technology that runs both the electronics and the software that run each of the components and the controls, whether it’s the flight computers or the actuators or the air data systems or the navigation systems. All of these different systems across the aircraft share a common hardware and software stack. It gives us the ability to innovate and to move aviation to the next level from a technological standpoint. The rate at which we’re able to collect data from each of those devices, the richness of the data, the temperatures and the currents and the voltages and the acceleration levels…we know so much about everything that’s going on across the aircraft…which is valuable from a product maintenance standpoint…and [provides] the ability to really understand the aircraft at a substantially more sophisticated level than we’ve ever been able to do before.

It also enables us to build a fly-by-wire control system [that] we hope will substantially improve safety by reducing pilot workload and allowing the pilot to focus on things that pilots are really good at doing. Our aircraft—you could just design it in a way that had more pilot workload than traditional aircraft. But we’ve decided to make it substantially easier and safer to fly.

FM: You’ve built a transparent culture. Is this something that you’ve driven into your organization purposefully?

JB: I think because we grew the organization organically, with that as the ethos from the beginning, I think that helps you see it [and know it’s something] that you always have to continue to nurture and focus on and foster, but it is something we cherish.

FM: Were there any challenges with getting the FAA to ac- cept and get through the first set of papers, putting it all into motion?

JB: We started working informally with the FAA back in 2015. We had conversations well back before that, but by that point in time, there was momentum building. We started the Electric Propulsion & Innovation Committee [EPIC] at GAMA. We then began a formal certification in 2018. We’d been flying our full-scale prototype for a [little more than a] year at that point, and the level of engagement and forward lean from the FAA was increasing steadily. We’ve continued to foster a really constructive relationship with everyone that we work with at the FAA. The degree with which the FAA has leaned into this industry is really fantastic. I mean, they see it as you see it, that it has the potential to transform flight both in the degree of relevancy that it has to large por- tions of the population on a daily basis but also to make it safer. And… more accessible, sustainable. So there’s a lot of value in each of these different dimensions.

FM: Can you pick a specific challenge so far that you’ve solved that has curved things up?

JB: I think that the one right now that I’m super excited about is getting this first aircraft off our pilot manufacturing line. And that it is just so exciting to have used all of our quality processes and have built all the procedures to not just build the experimental aircraft but to have the pieces in place to begin building conforming aircraft. So it’s a monumental achievement from the team. It took a spectacular amount of work, and I’m just so proud. 

Quick 6

Is there anyone living or dead that you would most like to fly with?

Kelly Johnson

If you could fly any aircraft that you haven’t flown yet, what would that be?

The F-22

What is your favorite airport that you’ve flown into?

Orcas Island Airport (KORS) in Washington

What do you believe has been the biggest innovation breakthrough or event in aviation?

Frank Whittle’s invention of the turbine

What is one important life lesson from being a pilot and inventor?

Dare to look over the horizon.

When not working towards the first TCed eVTOL aircraft, what would you rather be doing?

Catching up on the latest from our advanced research team

This profile first appeared in the August 2023/Issue 940 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post In Depth with JoeBen Bevirt Illuminates the Joby Vision appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The New York City skyline could soon be dotted with small, humming drones after Mayor Eric Adams announced a rule that allows individuals and entities to apply for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) privileges.

The rule, an addition to Title 38 of the Rules of the City of New York, establishes a permitting process and guidelines for takeoff and landing of UAS within the five boroughs. 

Before Friday, drones were only allowed to fly within New York City Department of Transportation (DOT)-designated locations or model aircraft fields recognized by the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation (with an exception for law enforcement). Now, the public can request additional locations to be temporarily designated as drone flight zones.

“With these rules, we are paving the way for drones to help in New Yorkers’ everyday lives—not just in emergency situations,” Adams said in a press conference. “Drones are going to allow us to make facade inspections faster and safer, help us inspect and maintain our bridges, tunnels, and critical infrastructure, and allow us to monitor our beaches more easily for unauthorized swimmers and hazardous conditions, among other things.”

Permits will be administered by the New York City Police Department, and each will include a location temporarily designated by the DOT as a takeoff or landing site. The rule opens the skies to both businesses and hobbyists, though the latter will need to hold a Part 107 remote pilot certificate.

• Read More: You (Probably) Have What it Takes to be a Drone Pilot 

Without further adieu, let’s dig into how to obtain a permit—and what can be done with it.

How to Get a Drone Permit in New York City

The city of New York provided a helpful Applicant User Guide and a set of frequently asked questions to walk prospective fliers through the process. But let’s break down the basics.

To start, create an account on the city’s newly launched drone permit portal. Applicants will be prompted to enter the name, address, email, and phone number for themselves and any proposed operators, alternate operators, and visual observers. The operator is the person actually flying the drone, while visual observers can extend the range of flight by keeping an eye on the aircraft.

Applicants will also need to provide a description of their intended activities, which could include inspections, project planning, or obtaining photo, video, or audio. Prospective pilots can request as many as five combinations of flight times, dates, and takeoff and landing locations but must also specify the altitude, duration, and geographical location of the flights themselves.

In addition, the application will require at least:

• The photo ID of the applicant and any proposed operators or visual observers.
• A remote pilot certificate from the FAA with a small UAS rating, including any waivers (such as operations over people) applicable to the requested permit.
• An FAA UAS registration certificate for the drone itself.
• Proof of commercial general liability insurance and drone aviation liability/UAS coverage.
• Details of the applicant’s data privacy and cybersecurity practices.
• The manufacturer, model number, weight, and year of manufacture of the UAS.

Importantly, applications must be submitted within 30 days and at least 180 days prior to the earliest proposed launch date. 

But there’s an exception: If each proposed operator and alternate operator has been listed on at least one permit in the previous 180 days and that permit was not revoked for failure to comply, the NYPD can approve submissions within 14 days. The department will also review all applications before August 1, 2024, to determine if the shorter 14-day timeline is operationally feasible.

In addition to paying for insurance out of pocket, applicants will be charged a $150 fee. Unfortunately, that’s nonrefundable, except in cases where an application was approved then revoked for reasons not the fault of the applicant or operator.

That means applicants could be paying just to have their requests denied, which could happen for a number of reasons. The NYPD may turn away applicants due to false or incomplete paperwork, concern for public safety or security, or a violation of state, federal, or city aviation laws. However, disapprovals can be appealed within 30 days of notification.

Whether approved or rejected, application status can be tracked via email. But if approved, you’re ready to fly within the specified window. Just keep an eye on that application status, as it can be temporarily or permanently revoked after being issued.

What Can (and Can’t) You Do with Your Permit?

According to Adams and other city officials, newly inducted drones will be used for everything from infrastructure inspections to personal photography. But there are a few key restrictions.

As would be expected, permittees are required to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations when flying. That means flights will need to remain within the operator’s visual line of sight, among other restrictions. When operating, pilots will need to have their permit, documentation of FAA authorization (including waivers), and a copy of the aforementioned insurance policies. 

Permitted fliers must notify the NYPD of any crash that takes place during takeoff, operation, or landing. They are also required to contact the city’s Cyber Command of any suspected cybersecurity breaches.

If operating a drone without a permit or exception, or in violation of a permit, rulebreakers face $250 in civil penalties for the first offense. If two offenses take place within a year, the penalty doubles, and it rises to $1,000 if a third violation occurs. Violators may also be charged with a misdemeanor.

And there’s one more key rule. If a permit holder plans to capture photo, video, or audio, they must notify the community board in each district they wish to fly and post public notices within 100 feet of each takeoff and landing site. Failure to do so 48 hours in advance of the earliest launch could draw a fine.

So, those are the rules. But what will drones in the Big Apple actually look like?

The NYPD, New York City Fire Department, and other state agencies already use drones in cases where personnel cannot be deployed—like tracking shark attacks along the coastline, a recent initiative from Governor Kathy Hochul. Another example came in April, when drones were used to assess interior conditions and search for survivors after a garage collapsed in Lower Manhattan.

“From patrolling the city’s 2,000-square-mile upstate watershed to conducting routine infrastructure inspections along the coastline of the five boroughs, drones operated by our skilled workforce are already helping us serve New Yorkers more safely and efficiently,” said Rohit Aggarwala, New York City Department of Environmental Protection commissioner.

Individuals and organizations with drone permits will probably take on similar tasks. Remote inspections are likely candidates for UAS, allowing energy and utility companies to make safer, quicker checks. They may also be used to plan out capital projects, giving developers a bird’s-eye view of the city’s layout.

Hobbyists, on the other hand, may not benefit much. The $150 fee and out-of-pocket insurance payments present a barrier to entry, which is only compounded by the requirement of FAA certification and registration. Chances are this rule was geared toward companies with more money and time.

Still, the city’s drone permitting process is undoubtedly an improvement. Integrating UAS into the biggest city in the U.S. was never going to be easy, but New York’s rule is a small step toward democratizing the skies.

The post Drones May Soon Have New York City Skies Humming appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The eVTOL startup said Nolen’s aviation experience and expertise will bolster its effort to broadly commercialize urban air mobility.

• READ MORE: Archer, Stellantis To Display Midnight eVTOL at Paris Air Show

“Billy is an incredible leader and has long been a staunch supporter of the eVTOL aircraft industry, spearheading our country’s and the FAA’s global leadership role in this important area,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO. “Together, we will shape the future of transportation and make sustainable, efficient air travel a reality.”

The company said Nolen has been an advocate for eVTOL aircraft and worked on preparations for integrating eVTOLS in the national airspace while at the FAA. In his new role, Nolen will help Archer “more effectively collaborate with industry stakeholders” as it moves toward its planned commercializing eVTOL operations in 2025.

• READ MORE: Joby Aviation Names Huerta to Board of Directors

“I’m honored to join Archer Aviation, a true visionary at the forefront of revolutionizing urban air mobility,” Nolen said. “The commercialization of eVTOL aircraft is no longer a question of ‘if,’ but rather ‘when,’ and after careful consideration and assessing the competitive landscape, I joined Archer because I believe its approach to designing for certification and only developing the key enabling technologies necessary for eVTOL aircraft is the right recipe for success.”

• READ MORE: FAA Administrator: AAM Plan on the Horizon

Nolen received a bachelor’s degree in professional aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and holds specialized aviation safety management certificates from the University of Southern California, United States Army Safety Center, and the United States Navy Postgraduate School. He also is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a U.K.-based professional institution dedicated to the aviation and aerospace industries.

He served tours of duty flying airplanes and helicopters in the U.S. Army and was a pilot with American Airlines. He later held a number of safety-related posts with WestJet Airlines, Qantas Airways, Airlines for America, and American Airlines. 

The post Archer Aviation Picks Billy Nolen as New Chief Safety Officer appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Huerta joins former FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell on the board of the company, which seeks to bring to market an all-electric aircraft for commercial air transportation.

• READ MORE: Joby Aviation Moves Closer to Type Certification of Its eVTOL

“Michael is joining our team at a pivotal time for Joby and the broader eVTOL industry, and his dual seat on Joby and Delta’s Boards will be invaluable as we prepare for commercial operations,” said Bevirt. “He has been a strong proponent of electric aircraft and future aviation technologies, and we’re grateful for the passion and depth of experience he brings to our team.”

In a roundtable meeting on Thursday, March 23, FLYING spoke with Bevirt along with executive chairman Paul Sciarra (co-founder of Pinterest) and board member Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn, member of Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board), regarding its progress in building its vertically integrated production capability and capacity alongside the certification pathway.

“This is a progression that’s been happening over a period of time,” said Bevirt to kick off the meeting. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a little boy.” But when he originally looked at starting development of an electric aircraft capable of vertical takeoff and landing in the mid-‘90s, the batteries weren’t ready. Bevirt co-founded a robotics company, Velocity 11, in 1999 and put the dream on hold until almost 15 years ago when the technology had advanced sufficiently to support his vision. 

• READ MORE: Joby Reports $1.1 Billion in Hand at Close of Fourth Quarter

The battery tech has moved from 50 watt-hours/kilogram in the 90s to 170 watt-hours/kilogram in the late 2010s to today, where Joby utilizes 300 watt-hours/kilogram batteries. That’s still a small fraction of the specific energy that liquid fuels contain—but it “gives us the ability to build aircraft that are sustainable, and that can take off and land vertically,” said Bevirt, and meet the company’s initial design goals.

Early Investor Delta Air Lines

In a statement, Joby noted Huerta’s ties to the company: “Huerta also serves on the board of directors for Delta Air Lines, which announced a multi-year, multi-market commercial and operational partnership with Joby in October 2022. As part of the agreement between the two companies, Delta made an up-front equity investment in Joby of $60 million, with a total investment of up to $200 million possible based on the achievement of mutually agreed progress milestones.”

• READ MORE: Joby Aviation Begins Final Assembly of ‘Company Conforming’ eVTOL

Delta CEO Ed Bastian commented on the appointment, saying, “Joby and Delta are pioneering a groundbreaking new way to travel. Michael’s aviation experience is a tremendous benefit to both companies as we work to deeply integrate our two services to make booking travel easier, the end-to-end journey more seamless, and to deliver customers maximum time savings.”

In the roundtable, Bevirt, Sciarra, and Hoffman also discussed Joby’s work with the Department of Defense, and how that early collaboration has laid the groundwork for deeper investment—and the projected ability to scale sooner following certification. Notably, Bevirt indicated that the SFAR needed to establish temporary operating and airman certification regulations for powered-lift aircraft appeared to be on track.

The post Joby Aviation Names Huerta to Board of Directors appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In its third-quarter business update the company highlighted a number of transactions and events that have helped support its plans for certification and production of its Lilium Jet vehicle. These efforts include deposits on aircraft orders from customers, advance sales of its Pioneer Edition aircraft and a significant round of fundraising. 

“The first firm order and the strong market response to our Lilium Pioneer Edition are significant achievements for Lilium this quarter,” said Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe. “Having successfully completed the latest fundraise, our teams are now fully focused on achieving the development and certification of the Lilium Jet and building our manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. We are confident we have the right technology and the right team to bring this transformational product to market,” Roewe said.

• READ MORE: Saudia Agrees To Buy 100 Lilium Jets for Proposed eVTOL Network

Among the third-quarter highlights were Lilium’s agreement with the airline Saudia, which said it intends to buy up to 100 aircraft, and a deal with the United Kingdom company eVolare, a unit of Volare Aviation, an operator of helicopters and private jets. Together with previous orders, the two recent announcements reflect an increase in total orders to 603, Lilium said.

Lilium said a fundraising round from existing shareholders, new investors and strategic partners totaled $119 million, and that it is making “significant progress” toward type certification of its aircraft. Demonstrator aircraft continue to improve, and have recorded a new top speed of 120 knots, the company said.

• READ MORE: Lilium Secures Partnership with GlobeAir for 12 eVTOLs

The post Lilium Says eVTOL on Track for Certification appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY), a company developing eVTOL vehicles for air taxis and similar passenger operations, said it entered a partnership with Aviation High School to train aspiring aircraft maintenance technicians and aerospace leaders for careers in “the electric age of flight.”

The school, located in the Long Island City area of New York’s borough of Queens, was previously called the Manhattan School of Aviation Trades and has operated since 1936. Its main purpose is preparing FAA-certificated airframe and powerplant mechanics. The school is known across the aviation industry, where its graduates account for a significant share of the technical workforce locally.

• READ MORE: Reading, Writing, and Runways: When High School Revolves Around Aviation

Joby said working with school and city education and transportation officials helps the company develop strategies for operating within local transportation systems and infrastructures. For the high school, Joby represents an opportunity to expand its programs and prepare students to remain as competitive as possible as air transport evolves.    

“Industry partnerships such as the one between Aviation High School and Joby Aviation are key in ensuring our career-pathways programs are exciting, relevant to students’ interests, and valuable in preparing our young people for life after graduation,” New York City Schools Chancellor David C. Banks said. “I’m grateful to everyone at Aviation High School and Joby Aviation for their dedication to our students and their futures.”

Joby’s partnership with the school closely follows its announcement of a partnership with Delta Air Lines to develop a home-to-airport service for Delta’s customers. The planned operations will begin in New York and Los Angeles.

• READ MORE: Delta, Joby Aviation Partner to Launch Home-to-Airport eVTOL Shuttle

The school’s aviation classroom looks like the maintenance hangars at large general aviation airports, with the feel of a museum mixed in. During a visit to the school this week I saw teams of students in neat white coveralls working on a range of aircraft from business jets and piston singles like Cessna 152s and Beechcraft Bonanzas, to a vintage Bell 47 helicopter and a few AT-6 Texans. Now eVTOLs are entering the curriculum.

Under the partnership, 100 of the school’s students have enrolled in Joby’s online private pilot ground school course, which includes instruction on basic aerodynamics and piloting. Joby said it will also work with the school’s faculty to add the study of electric propulsion systems and other new technologies into its curriculum. Joby also recently brought four virtual-reality simulators to the school so students can virtually pilot the company’s S4 eVTOL aircraft.

“With electrification and air taxis set to revolutionize the aviation industry, we are excited to partner with Joby to inspire and train our students to work with these cutting-edge technologies and prepare the talented young men and women of New York City for successful careers in the aviation world of tomorrow,” said Aviation High School’s principal Steven R. Jackson.

The post Joby Partners With Aviation High School to Train eVTOL Technicians appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

One of the flights took place at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport near Rome and was a collaboration among German eVTOL maker Volocopter, the Roman airport authority and mobility infrastructure companies UrbanV and Atlantia.

According to airport officials, a test pilot flew the Volocopter 2X aircraft at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, or about 21 knots for five minutes at an altitude of about 131 feet.

• READ MORE: Wisk Unveils Generation 6 eVTOL Air Taxi Prototype

The flight was also a test of a prototype vertiport constructed at the airport for testing the possibilities of eVTOL infrastructure. The demonstration was part of a plan to use eVTOLs as air taxis between the airport and parts of the city by 2024.

The demonstration flight in Dubai was organized by the Dubai International Chamber and Chinese eVTOL maker XPeng.

After taking off, the XPeng X2 two-seat aircraft flew for about 90 seconds. The company says the X2 can fly at up to 130 kilometers per hour, or about 70 knots and has autonomous flight capability. The company says the flight “marks an exciting new era of short-haul flights and intelligent mobility solutions.”

• READ MORE: Company Says It Staged First Race of eVTOL ‘Speeders’

The post Rome and Dubai Host eVTOL Demo Flights, One With Pilot On Board appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The 64-page document represents the next step in Wisk’s plan to move ahead of its competitors by launching service with automated air taxis, operated by “multi-vehicle supervisors” (MVS) on the ground. Wisk’s competitors, including Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) and Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY), intend to fly passengers initially using on-board pilots, before eventually transitioning to an automated platform. Wisk, Archer, Joby, and others are flight testing full-size prototypes of their eVTOLs. Both Archer and Joby have said they expect to achieve FAA certification in time to enter service in 2024.

Investors and leaders across the air taxi industry believe scalability is the key to unlocking the economic potential of this entirely new form of air transportation, which aims to provide short, on-demand, emission-free flights above urban traffic gridlock. Operating fleets of self-flying aircraft supervised by a human in the loop is seen by many as critical to successful and profitable scaled operations. 

Released Tuesday, the document, titled “Concept of Operations for Uncrewed Urban Air Mobility,” is a culmination of “studies by experts across Boeing, Wisk, Aurora Flight Sciences, SkyGrid, and other industry affiliates.”

• READ MORE Boeing Invests $450 Million in Wisk’s Self-Flying eVTOL

Although Wisk has been planning to operate self-flying air taxis for quite some time, the topic continues to spark lively discussions on social media. 

“While autonomy does well at the routine, repetitive and sometimes boring tasks, it cannot replace that unique, human ability to do extraordinary things in an emergency that a person has never been taught, learnt or programmed to do like “the landing on the Hudson” or Qantas Flight 72 or the Lion Air pilots on a [Boeing] 737 Max the day before the [Boeing] 737 Max tragedy,” writes techno-economics consultant Gary Vermaak on LinkedIn. “The remote supervisor will help somewhat, but lacks not only the situational awareness of an onboard pilot and also like the pilot of the Navy drone downed by the Iranians, may not have enough time to react.”

Virtually No Mention of Noise

The report offers details about “technology, regulatory, and social recommendations to help make uncrewed UAM [urban air mobility] a safe reality,” but it virtually ignores a key topic central to the success of eVTOL air taxis. 

“It’s an amazingly comprehensive conops document to help bring the industry forward,” said longtime eVTOL engineering pioneer Mark Moore, formerly at NASA and Uber Elevate and now CEO at Whisper Aero. “But it has a major oversight. It fails to address noise and community acceptance. None of these vertiports happen unless the communities sign off on them. It’s not up to the FAA. It’s not up to the industry. It is literally the communities that have to agree to have these vertiports inserted into their communities. And especially in terms of the noise—the major acceptance criteria—you don’t have a transportation system for eVTOL.”

Only briefly does the report mention the noise issue, saying, “Electric propulsion will minimize aircraft noise and eliminate direct carbon emissions.”

In a Wisk white paper from 2021, the company claims “the lower environmental and noise impact of eVTOL aircraft” offers “the potential to provide even closer connectivity between the airport and its surrounding communities.”

Highlights

Key elements of the Boeing/Wisk report include: 

• a roadmap to integrate self-flying UAM into the U.S. national airspace system and an aggressive timeframe aiming “to create a pathway forward for more equitable access to mobility across socioeconomic levels by the end of the decade.”

• a call to action for new flight rules.

• a goal of boosting stakeholder engagement and convergence by key aviation stakeholders across manufacturing, standards organizations, testing agencies, trade associations, lawmakers, and regulatory entities, including the FAA, EASA, CAA, and others.

• Wisk and Boeing make it clear they support making “safe and affordable urban flight available for everyone.”

“The important work we’re sharing today provides a stepping stone in the advancement of UAM in the U.S. and the world,” said Wisk CEO Gary Gysin in a news release. “The vision we have outlined is the result of many years of collaboration with Boeing, the FAA, NASA and key industry stakeholders. As a result, this document offers the most comprehensive framework proposed to date with a vision for enabling UAM in the national airspace.”

Multi-Vehicle Supervisors

The paper specifically addresses what it calls a “critical element to safely scaling up the tempo of UAM flight operations—enhanced automation and a shift in how we define the role of pilots.”

Instead of individual pilots, Wisk intends to use a person on the ground who monitors multiple aircraft simultaneously in a role it calls “multi-vehicle supervisor,” working inside facilities called Fleet Operations Centers.

“The ground facilities will provide not only the usual airline fleet operations management and flight dispatch functions, but also some essential functions currently performed by onboard pilots that will be allocated by design to automation and personnel on the ground,” the report says. 

Operations will be conducted during both day and night under visual and instrument meteorological conditions, according to the white paper. “Third-party service providers will provide ground-based solutions to replace key functions that are currently provided by onboard pilots.”

The aircraft will be designed to automatically take off and land.

Detect and Avoid

The air taxis will be equipped with hazard detection and avoidance technology aimed at quickly and effectively identifying operational hazards including traffic, weather, terrain, and obstacles, according to the report. The aircraft will “autonomically execute avoidance maneuvers if appropriate.”

Interestingly, the paper states that “supervisory oversight and intervention will be possible but will not be required. UAM aircraft will be operated in accordance with applicable collision avoidance, remain well clear, and right-of-way regulations.”

• READ MORE: How Will Self-Flying Air Taxis Make Ethical Choices?

Emergency Landing Sites

The paper details alternative landing sites “in case an event forces a precautionary or emergency landing before they reach their destination vertiport.” 

Three types of alternative landing sites are listed, including diversion vertiports, secure emergency landing zones (ELZ) that offer requirements for safe approach and landing, and non-secure ELZs, sites that have been determined safe for landing with minimal disruption, such as golf courses.

Airspace and Instrument Procedures

The paper specifies that UAM aircraft will depart from, operate in, and land in G-, E-, D-, C-, and B-class airspace. 

Flight operations will use “published required navigation performance (RNP) route and instrument flight procedures (IFP)—including low- altitude airways; instrument approach procedures (IAP), including missed approach procedures and transitions; and standard instrument departures (SID) with departure transitions.”

Routes 

The report encourages the use of dedicated UAM routes. “Although dedicated UAM routes and airspace will not be required, their use would contribute to operational efficiency gains and would reduce ATC interventions to resolve traffic conflicts.” the paper says. “By design, UAM routes will not interfere with other published routes and airspaces and thus will provide some procedural separation.”

Together with Boeing, we’re releasing a roadmap for transitioning to a future where automated and uncrewed aircraft can safely carry passengers and cargo in urban and suburban areas.

— Wisk (@WiskAero) September 20, 2022

Vertiports

The concept of operations paper comes five months after Wisk released a detailed report describing how eVTOL vertiports—along with related systems and infrastructure—could best accommodate automated air taxis. 

• READ MORE: What Will Self-Flying Air Taxi Vertiports Look Like?

Wisk—a privately held company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page—was formed in 2019. But its roots date back to 2010, when it started as Zee Aero, before merging with Kittyhawk and then spinning off into its current company. Wisk is expected to reveal its sixth-generation eVTOL soon.

Eventually, Wisk says it plans to operate an automated air taxi service as a 14 CFR Part 135 airline, flying nearly 14 million annual flights and transporting 40 million passengers per year across 20 cities—all with zero emissions. Wisk says its fleet will be the largest in the industry.

Wisk has revealed very little about its timeframe expectations for entering service, saying the answer to that question is largely out of its hands, dependent on decisions of the FAA and other industry regulators. 

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