Government/Regulators
Live Free or Fly?
New Hampshire Greenlights UAM Roadable Aircraft
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu recently signed into law NH House Bill 1517. This legislation would permit “roadable aircraft” (AKA flying cars or eVTOLs — electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) to drive on roads in the Granite State. A former NH legislator, Representative Keith Ammon, suggested Steven Smith, who represents Sullivan County, District 11,…
eVTOLs and Flying Cars Not Quite Cleared for Takeoff
But an UAM Traffic Management (UTM) System Is Taking Shape
“Ground control to Major Tom. Ground control to Major Tom.” (David Bowie flashback.) According to its latest reporting, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is managing roughly 16.1 million flights annually, averaging about 44,000 flights daily. That’s about 5,400 flights at any given moment. The advent of urban air mobility (AKA advanced air mobility) is…
Japan Moves Forward with Air Taxis and Flying Cars
One hundred Japanese and international corporations have agreed to help eVTOL air taxis become a reality in Japan by 2023 and automated cars that can fly by 2030. The companies are sponsoring SkyDrive Inc., a developer of urban air mobility solutions and joint developer CARTIVATOR Resource Management. Support will be in the form of financial…
EASA Publishes VTOL Additional Certification Methods
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) enhanced the flight path toward urban air mobility (UAM) by publishing its proposal for the certification of electric or hybrid air taxis (VTOLs) on May 25, 2020. The Cologne, Germany-based agency first outlined a certification framework VTOL manufacturers could use to begin developing air taxis (Special Condition VTOL)…
Vertiports: If You Build Them, Will They Come?
Horse, stable. Ship, dock. Car, garage. Airplane, hangar. Air transportation vehicles need a place to park, too. Whether to refuel, recharge, or reload, the urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles in development today will need somewhere to depart from and somewhere to land. They will need infrastructure to support them, not the least of which will…
NASA Series to Lead the Way in Making eVTOLs a Reality in the US
Just a few years ago, as people in the aviation field discussed how eVTOLs (called flying cars in popular culture) might be integrated into existing airspace, the term urban air mobility (UAM) came into being. Coining it that made sense. After all, a Jetson-like cityscape is what many people think of when they imagine vertical…