Avionics News October 2021 - 53

S
ome electric vertical takeoff and landing manufacturers are aiming for aircraft certification in 2023 with commercial
operations launches planned for 2024. These manufacturers and future operators make up part of the
advanced air mobility or urban air mobility movement.
Aircraft certification and regulator authorization for commercial operations are just part of the story, though. Manufacturers
and future operators must also plan for ground infrastructure, including charging, line service and training,
passenger handling, and even aircraft rescue and firefighting.
These considerations are not new, nor do they come as surprises to original equipment manufacturers and future operators.
In fact, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology report from 1970 highlighted ground infrastructure needs for VTOL
in " intercity air transportation. " Thirty years ago, the Federal Aviation
Administration published a now-cancelled advisory circular on vertiport
design, establishing guidance for facilities intended to serve large tiltrotors
such as the CTR-22, a civil variant of the MV-22 Osprey. Today, facility
sponsors in the United States are looking to the FAA's heliport design
advisory circular to plan and upgrade facilities intended to serve future
eVTOL aircraft. While electrification is indeed a twist on the prior lines of
thinking, these documents provide some framework for current work.
Here are some areas under construction by industry and standards
development organizations.
Charging
Will charging connections and facilities be aircraft-specific or universal?
Beta developed and demonstrated a charging pad last year. Other manufacturers
have been less public about their charging plans. No commercially
available off-the-shelf hardware exists for charging these aircraft, and even
if it did, the need for very specific protocols, number of independent power
channels, supplemental cooling, and other factors may have kept charging
connections and facilities aircraft-specific anyway.
eVTOL players do consider interoperability. All eVTOL aircraft likely
won't use the same charge handles or coolants, for example, but they will
likely share common interconnections of aircraft-specific ground support
equipment to distribution lines, that is, 480V AC at various levels of
power.
A significant portion of the cost of charging infrastructure is in laying or
adapting equipment capable of higher power distribution where it doesn't
already exist. Ideally, there will be shared benefits of laying that distriWHILE
AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATION
IS CERTAINLY THE LARGEST
HURDLE TO REALIZING THE
DREAM OF WIDE-SCOPE
AAM/UAM OPERATIONS,
CERTIFICATION IS JUST ONE
CHALLENGE. FUTURE OPERATORS
MUST OBTAIN AUTHORIZATION
TO CONDUCT COMMERCIAL
OPERATIONS, WHICH WILL
MEAN PART 135 CERTIFICATION
IN THE U.S., AND DEVELOP
GROUND INFRASTRUCTURE AND
PROCEDURES TO SUPPORT
THOSE OPERATIONS.
bution equipment. For example, if laid in the right places, airport operators may find it easier to electrify their ground
service equipment by tying chargers for that equipment into new distribution lines, which is a great benefit for airports
participating or wishing to participate in the Voluntary Airport Low Emissions Program.
Regardless of the specifics, charging equipment will need to provide fast-charging options to ensure the quick-turns on
which most eVTOL/advanced air mobility operator models are built, and operators or ground handling service providers
will need to provide appropriate training to conduct charging activities safely and efficiently.
In the bigger picture, utility companies are being encouraged to consider the future needs of eVTOL aircraft in infraContinued
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avionics news * october 2021 53

Avionics News October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News October 2021