Urban-Air Port Thought Leaders - The Board of Advisors Speak Out
#002 Lawrence Blakeley
The former Airbus Head of Wing Electrical Systems & Vertical Aerospace Head of Powertrain, now the COO of Swiss based H55 - tells us what’s on his mind.
Lawrence with Urban-Air Port’s CEO Andrea Wu at the H55 manufacturing facility in Geneva.
Electric Aviation – Ground Infrastructure
As electric aircraft development progresses toward certification and a number of the world leaders are targeting certification within the next few years, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the ground infrastructure is not ready. This is particularly true for eVTOL aircraft. Major topics like, the integration of VTOL airspace and the availability of electrical power seem to be going largely under the radar, with the glitz of the novel aircraft design taking centre stage. But, these new electric aircraft need the infrastructure, as well as the associated regulations.
In the early days of eVTOL development there was a lot of focus on a 7min turnaround time, based on an Uber Elevate's white paper. But the ground infrastructure and safety of an operation like this was not fully considered. It was focused on a top down approach of how to make a positive business case for the aircraft operations as well as hypothetical battery capabilities, assuming the ground infrastructure could follow.
“Now there is a lot more information, with data driven charge time expectations and power availability requirements as well as ground operation needs during the aircraft turnaround. And, Urban-Air Port’s (UAP) is taking the lead in defining the reality of the ‘Urban Airport’, and providing solutions to suite.”
For eVTOLs to be successful, the aircraft operation needs to enable urban travel. Meaning, there needs to be 'Vertiports' in urban areas for people to use - one of the main challenges in any city is space. UAP have centred their solution around solving this challenge, along with this challenge is the space to turn the aircraft around, in other words, space for; passenger embarking and disembarking, baggage handling, charging, maintenance and repair, passenger security, comfort services (coffee shop, toilets, waiting areas). Then, the connection with other transport modes needs to be considered; electric car charging, rail links, bus services, walking distance to people hubs.
“All of this drives to a compact Vertiport solution, which means minimising the ground footprint. This has led to UAPs “Vertical Airfield” concept. This concept is truly unique, as it offers a viable option for cities to adopt true urban air travel.”
UAP have even gone so far as demonstrating the operations of this concept in Coventry UK, demonstrating a compact aircraft operation in an urban environment with multimodal transport connections.
The concept has aircraft kept close to the take-off area, and close to people operations, but ensuring segregation for safety.
It enables close but safe proximity of electrical ground storage to aid city centre power grid management when charging.
It also enables an above ground take-off platform minimising downwash and noise of the surrounding area.
UAP have also taken a leading position with the regulators, developing realistic aircraft turnaround process to ensure safe ground and air operations.
It is time the topic of ground infrastructure and operations is elevated to ensure the coming age of Urban Air Mobility. I urge those interested in a serious, data-driven & evidence based, pragmatic approach to contact the team at UAP to gain a true understanding of the uniquely practical & intelligent solutions being proposed to truly usher in the new electric era.
