Urban-Air Port Thought Leaders - The Board of Advisors Speak Out
#003 Angus Benson-Blair
The former British Army Major for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, that went onto write the 1st Unmanned Air Systems Operational Safety Case for the CAA & who remains the most experienced UK pilot of heavy-lift and rotary wing craft - tells us what’s on his mind.
Angus and the Malloy Aeronautics team preparing and loading the high-value cargo on the T150 heavy-lift drone in the safe, secure and controlled environment of Urban-Air Ports’ Cargo Logistics Hangar Bay prior to launch from the UAP Vertical Airfield.
When driving out of London it often takes me longer to get to the M25 than it does for the rest of the journey to North Yorkshire! In the future, if we are to be more competitive and efficient, we need a transport infrastructure that doesn’t hold us back. Whilst this is clearly a multi-faceted issue, Urban Air Mobility (UAM) or Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) that I call Urban Advanced Air Mobility (UAAM) including cargo and passenger eVTOL clearly has an important role to play in this.
They key to enabling UAAM is not the lack of innovation or technology readiness but the lack of regulation and public acceptance. UAAM is likely to advance rapidly but history tells us that the regulators will lag behind by some considerable margin and risk holding back the industry just as it gets going.
“Regulators should be the slave to the innovator not the other way around.”
Afterall, if we are able to host global, high profile Artificial Intelligence summits with the likes of Elon Musk – surely we can continue the evolution of our airspace and provide the next generation of physical and digital infrastructure for Advanced Air Mobility.
Back in 2012, the UK CAA were very proactive, proportionate, light touch and pragmatic in enabling uncrewed aircraft operations, largely because the team there was small, with intrigue and vision in the potential that this new technology could provide. Fast forward just 10 years and the regulator now seems very different - more risk averse, heavier touch, and somewhat “blinkered” in its approach as to how it regulates.
“The regulators must engage in a meaningful way with those it purports to serve and regulate. It is therefore imperative that for UAAM - for which the CAA is championing - the authority learns from its long history and allows UAAM to forge forwards in a proactive generation of growth, research and development and be prepared to look outside of conventional or incumbent thought processes, working with, and keeping up with the industry and those who take on the risk to develop new systems, new technologies and new solutions.”
I know it can do, I helped the CAA develop the first ever drone safety case based authorisation and I was one of the pilots at Urban-Air Ports’ AirOne launch in Coventry where the collective teamwork from all stakeholders including Coventry Airport and the CAA, enabled the Malloy Aeronautics T150 heavy-lift drone to be flown safely in a very congested area. This work involved demonstrating how safe the aircraft was, how control of the ground would be assured, and prevention of mid-air conflict would be guaranteed. A process only enabled by sensible, pragmatic face to face discussions where bureaucratic procedures were minimised.
However, it’s not just the aviation authorities that require vision and drive, it is urban planners, local authorities, local politicians and national Government, and of course the public that needs to be open minded and think afresh about how this new technology can really benefit us all, the economy and help us move towards a zero emission future. UAAM industry leaders such as UAP need to continue to play their crucial part to educate the decision makers, the public and demystify the views that aviation is noisy, polluting, ‘for the rich’ and requires significant infrastructure that could be disruptive to communities.
“UAP’s Coventry AirOne remains for me, and I believe for the UAAM industry the shining light of how to walk the line perfectly. The ribbon was cut with local Government, national Government, local city authorities and eVTOL OEMs standing shoulder to shoulder before 15000 members of the public poured through the doors to engage for the 1st time in this industry – they got it done. They towed the line and took everyone with them. ”
Urban-Air Port’s AirOne vertiport ribbon cutting with all stakeholders including Michael Whitaker the FAA Administrator, Supernal the Hyundai Motor Group eVTOL business, local & national Government and the then CEO of Coventry City Council - April 2022, Coventry, UK
Whilst much of the headline grabbing UAAM advancements appear to focus on the eVTOL aircraft, these aircraft are worthless without the correct, safe and efficient ground-based infrastructure. How can aircraft operate from minimal land space without adversely affecting the environment due to noise and pollution? How is scale brought to bear to bring costs down? How do you tackle the complex downwash and outwash effects of these eVTOLS safely? Aircraft agnostic vertiports designed and built from a completely new approach verses traditional carbon hungry approach of aviation infrastructure is the answer.
UAP has the optimal solution combining safety, innovation and experience for pilots, passengers and aircraft that can not only provide high capacity on a tiny footprint, but also in an affordable way that can benefit the public and community it serves.
