In this article, we’ll explore the journey of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), previously known as Urban Air Mobility (UAM), over the past three decades. We’ll highlight the key milestones, the challenges faced, and the exciting future of electric air mobility, including the potential of electric short take-off and landing (eSTOL) aircraft.
Dans cet article, nous allons explorer le parcours de la mobilité aérienne avancée (AAM), anciennement connue sous le nom de mobilité aérienne urbaine (UAM), au cours des trois dernières décennies. Nous mettrons en lumière les principales étapes, les défis à relever et l’avenir passionnant de la mobilité aérienne électrique, notamment le potentiel des avions électriques à décollage et atterrissage courts (eSTOL).
The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) industry is abuzz with developments. From aircraft orders to real-world tests, the path towards urban air mobility is taking shape. This news recap highlights groundbreaking orders, infrastructure progress, and the race among startups to take off first.
Il y a plus de solutions que d’obstacles, Nicolas Zart
L’avenir de la mobilité aérienne avancée (AAM) est plein de promesses, mais il n’est pas toujours facile de distinguer la réalité du battage médiatique. Alors que la course à la concrétisation de cette vision s’intensifie, un concurrent moins connu, l’eSTOL (décollage et atterrissage courts électriques), s’impose discrètement comme un favori.
Au départ, les avions eVTOL (décollage et atterrissage verticaux électriques) étaient censés mener la révolution de l’AAM. Cependant, le chemin vers la certification de ces véhicules s’avère complexe, et la consommation d’énergie nécessaire à la sustentation verticale et à la transition vers le vol horizontal est substantielle. C’est là qu’intervient l’eSTOL, qui propose une approche plus prudente et plus efficace.
Pour comprendre l’avantage de l’eSTOL, il faut se plonger dans la terminologie des hélicoptères, en particulier les FATO et les TLOF. Selon l’Agence fédérale de l’aviation américaine (FAA), la TLOF est l’aire de toucher des roues et de décollage à l’intérieur de l’aire d’approche finale et de décollage (FATO). Les avions eSTOL, de par leur conception, nécessitent des FATO et des TLOF moins profondes en raison de leur utilisation efficace de l’énergie et de l’absence de transitions de vol verticales à horizontales.
Les avions eSTOL, comme l’Electra, utilisent une aile soufflée. Cette technologie permet un écoulement régulier de l’air sous les ailes, ce qui permet une rétraction rapide des volets et une sustentation sans le décollage vertical à forte consommation d’énergie des eVTOL. Cette différence d’énergie deviendra une considération essentielle pour les propriétaires et les exploitants de vertiports, car les eSTOLs offrent une solution plus durable et plus rentable.
L’efficacité des avions eSTOL a un impact significatif sur la conception des vertiports. En réévaluant les exigences d’atterrissage les plus longues pour les eSTOL, nous avons découvert que leurs vertipads pouvaient être conçus dans l’empreinte d’un vertiport de petite ou moyenne taille. Cela permet non seulement d’accueillir les eSTOL, mais aussi de fournir des aires d’atterrissage supplémentaires pour d’autres aéronefs, maximisant ainsi l’utilisation de l’espace.
Le principal avantage des avions eSTOL réside dans leurs FATO peu profondes et leur utilisation efficace de l’énergie. Cela permet non seulement de simplifier la construction des vertiports, mais aussi d’assurer une intégration plus aisée et plus transparente de l’AAM dans l’infrastructure existante. Avec les eSTOL, la voie vers la réalisation de l’avenir de l’AAM devient plus claire et plus accessible.
Procedures de la Federal Aviation Agency (USA) Glossary.
Comprendre le guide de la Federal Aviation Agency (USA) EB-105.
The race to realize advanced air mobility is heating up, but cutting through the hype reveals a surprising front-runner—eSTOL aircraft. Discover how their efficient energy use and shallow FATOs are poised to revolutionize the future of aerial transportation.
There are more solutions than obstacles, Nicolas Zart
If we’ve been fairly quiet the past few weeks it’s not for lack of wanting to educate and talk about advanced air mobility (AAM). It’s because we’ve been busy redefining a core strategy, as should be done often in any industry and business life.
There’s a fine line between keeping your strategy close to the heart and away from prying eyes, and then there comes a time when the white elephant needs to be addressed. While we’re bombarded with how electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) will start to conquer the world ushering in an era of clean areal mobility, more and more reasoned voices question the viability of eVTOL. Don’t get us wrong. We’re 100% behind eVTOLs and we will see them fly. however, practicality dictates we must first access electric flight in the most efficient ways. Electric short take-off and landing (eSTOL) offer two irrefutable pros, their better energy usage and smaller vertiport approach footprint.
Why are we using helicopter executive
Essentially, eSTOLs have no transitions from vertical to horizontal flight. This not only maximizes their energy use but also means they have shallower FATOs and TLOFs. What are FATos and TLOFs? According to the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA), the TLOF of a heliport is the touchdown and lift-off area surrounded by a final approach and takeoff area (FATO). The TLOF is a load-bearing, usually paved, area at a heliport (helipad) where the helicopter is permitted to land. The TLOF can be located at ground or rooftop level, or on an elevated structure. The TLOF is normally centered in the FATO and is the safety area provided for VTOL aircraft to touch down. Final Approach and Takeoff Area (FATO). The FATO is a defined heliport area over which the final approach to a
hover or a departure is made. The touchdown and lift-off area (TLOF) where the helicopter is permitted to land is normally centered in the FATO. A safety area is provided around the FATO.
The relationship of the TLOF to the FATO and the Safety Area is shown in Figure 3-2. A FATO may NOT contain more than one TLOF.
Why are we using helicopter terms? Because vertiports are defined using many heliport executive briefs since their operations are similar. Vertiports are essentially modernized heliports with one difference, not all heliports can become vertiports due to space and original design constraints.
The second reason why eSTOLs will most likely take off first, pun intended is their fairly more conservative use of energy. Since eVTOL will need to use vertical lift before being wing-borne, they will consume more energy than winged aircraft, especially those with blow-lift designs such as the Electra. This energy discrepancy will tally up at the end of the year and shareholders and municipalities will these uncomfortable questions to vertiport owners and operators.
Essentially, a blow-wing eSTOL will blow air under its wings smoothly establishing enough airflow to retract its flaps and allow portance, whereas an eVTOL will need to fly up fast enough for enough flow under the wings to give it portance.
After mulling over the practicality of eVTOL over eSTOL operations, it became apparent that eSTOLs can achieve shorter FATOs. We redesigned our vertipad concepts to capture eSTOL’s potential longest landing and found it would be no bigger than a small to medium-sized vertiport. The other benefit to this is we automatically added extra landing pads or vertipads on top of creating eSTOL ports.
Further reading:
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_150_5390_2D_Heliports.pdf
https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/eb-105-vertiports.pdf
This article examines the business potential of eSTOL and eCTOL aircraft, highlighting their unique capabilities and how they complement eVTOLs in the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) space. With increasing payload and range, these electric aircraft are set to revolutionize transportation for passengers and cargo.
Electra.aero achieves a milestone with the successful flight tests of its EL-2 Goldfinch eSTOL demonstrator aircraft. This hybrid-electric aircraft showcases its ultra-short takeoff and landing capabilities, quieter motors, and impressive performance, positioning Electra as a key player in advanced air mobility.
The race to advanced air mobility (AAM) is tightly linked to urban air mobility (UAM) and regional air mobility dominated by electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) and electric short take-off and landing (eSTOL).