Fraport And Volocopter Implement Infrastructure

Dean Sigler Batteries, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Helena Treeck, Senior Global PR Manager at Volocopter GmbH, announced that Volocopter and Fraport AG (the managing directorate for Frankfurt Airport) are, “Developing concepts for ground infrastructure and operations required for air taxi services at airports.” A Promising Concept As most of us know from inconvenient experience, getting to and from the airport and fighting our way through the obstacles between us and our assigned seat are frustrating and at times almost demeaning.  Volocopter probably can’t take away the patdowns and the delay in security lines, but it can release us from the traffic jams on the way to and from the airport. Volocopter proposes “Volocopter Ports,” a nest of landing platforms, battery swap stations, and boarding and departure zones.  Helena reports, “Fraport and Volocopter said that they’re exploring on how to integrate air taxis into the existing airport infrastructure at Frankfurt, using what it calls Volocopter Ports, that could link up with existing transportation nodes at the airport. One …

CES 2018 – Intel Inside and Then Some

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Brian Krzanich, Intel’s CEO, took a ride in the Volocopter 2X, becoming the first human passenger on an autonomous flight of the vehicle.  The ride took place in a large enclosed space somewhere in Munich, Germany, on December 3, 2017. An Historical Sidebar It looks a little like Hanna Reitsch’s helicopter flight under the roof of the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin in 1938, a feat she repeated daily during the three-week International Automobile Exhibition.  She later test flew an early V-1 “Buzz Bomb,” her small size adaptable to the craft.  Volocopter’s 2X requires far fewer flying skills, CEO Florian Reuter claiming a five-year-old can control the 2X. Not a Flying Car Sean O’Kane, enthusiastically reporting on the 2X for The Verge, can’t refrain from calling it a “flying car,” an all-too-common error in the popular press.  Monday’s indoor flight came near the conclusion of Brian Krzanich’s keynote address to a packed house at Las Vegas’ Monte Carlo Park Theater, a 5,200-seat …