Photo: Archer
Aviation is changing, with new and sustainable urban air mobility solutions being developed everywhere on the globe. But these futuristic flying machines can’t just take off and land wherever they want to, which is why we have to make sure our infrastructure can support this advanced type of aircraft. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) released new vertiport design standards to support the safe integration of air taxis.
We’ve been hearing of air taxis for years now and it is only logical to assume that sooner or later these VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft will become part of our existence. I can give you so many examples of manufacturers working on putting their flying taxis in the sky. Take Archer for instance, which is based in California and is working on an ultra-silent, electric aircraft (the Maker) that’s supposedly 100 times quieter than a conventional helicopter.
Then you’ve got Volocopter, Supernal, Joby Aviation, to name just a few of the major players in the industry.
The airports for these VTOLs are called vertiports and we also have companies working on building these, too. Skyports, Dymond Group, and Urban-Air-Port, are just some of them.
With humanity entering this new era of aviation, the FAA wants to make sure it does it the right way. Its recently released guidelines for the design of vertiports aim to provide the foundation needed to begin the building of safe infrastructure to support this new era. These design standards are based on extensive research conducted by the FAA, on the collaboration with various partners involved in the industry, and also on feedback received from the public.
The document released by the FAA includes critical info on all the important aspects designers and builders will have to pay attention to and follow. Some of them are related to design elements such as required geometry, dimensions for touchdown and liftoff areas, as well as the additional airspace needed for approach and departure paths, and load-bearing capacity.
There are also guidelines in there on markings, lighting, visual aids that identify the construction as a vertiport, safety standards for batteries and charging equipment, and much more.
You can check out the entire document below.
Then you’ve got Volocopter, Supernal, Joby Aviation, to name just a few of the major players in the industry.
The airports for these VTOLs are called vertiports and we also have companies working on building these, too. Skyports, Dymond Group, and Urban-Air-Port, are just some of them.
With humanity entering this new era of aviation, the FAA wants to make sure it does it the right way. Its recently released guidelines for the design of vertiports aim to provide the foundation needed to begin the building of safe infrastructure to support this new era. These design standards are based on extensive research conducted by the FAA, on the collaboration with various partners involved in the industry, and also on feedback received from the public.
The document released by the FAA includes critical info on all the important aspects designers and builders will have to pay attention to and follow. Some of them are related to design elements such as required geometry, dimensions for touchdown and liftoff areas, as well as the additional airspace needed for approach and departure paths, and load-bearing capacity.
There are also guidelines in there on markings, lighting, visual aids that identify the construction as a vertiport, safety standards for batteries and charging equipment, and much more.
You can check out the entire document below.
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