The GoAero Prize is a $2,000,000 chance to save the world – literally. A three-year search for solutions to the environmental disasters devastating our planet, the GoAero (Aerial Emergency Response Operations) Prize will go to the team creating an automated flight vehicle that can overcome formidable challenges. Gwen Lighter is a veteran of such challenges, having created the earlier GoFly Prize that concentrated on merely getting a single pilot off the ground safely. Successful finalists spent three years reaching the “playoffs.” This Next Three-Years’ Challenge On the surface, the challenge sounds straightforward enough: “Design and build a safe, portable, robust, autonomy-enabled Emergency Response Flyer.” Beneath that simple mission statement, things are significantly more difficult, requiring a vehicle to reach a disaster scene and perform a necessary mission. The craft should be able to demonstrate three main characteristics, being: Productive: Deploy on site and keep working day-in and day-out, reliably and efficiently. Versatile: All-theater, multi-environment, and robust so the important jobs …
MagniX Powers a Dash 7
MagniX Motors in Everett, Washington looks forward to powering a short-field performance champion, the DeHavilland Dash 7. The Dash 7 is a pretty astonishing short field aircraft, emulating the bush planes of the far north, home to its Canadian maker. Measuring its take-off and landing capabilities, this video shows what four Pratt & Whitney PT-6 turbines can do for a 40,000 pound airplane. As shown, the craft can carry heavy load from and into some pretty isolated territory without the need for sophisticated airport support systems. The idea of such performance and load-hauling is not a new idea, World War Two, and subsequent conflicts demonstrating the need for the need to get in and out of scarcely viable landscapes. To drive the point home, here’s a second video of a Dash 7 landing with 5,700 liters (10,088 pounds) of Jet-A on board. Not only is it a short landing but a very precise one, the main gear staying within bounds …
Two Similar eSTOLs
Two different but very similar electric Short Take Off and Landing (eSTOL) aircraft from two different companies are making progress toward realization. Both are products of teams originally committed to electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) designs, so the shift to different configurations is of interest. eVTOLs are limited in range by the need to lift their entire weight on their rotors – some for the totality of the flight. eSTOLs use aerodynamics to enable longer range, and with high-lift devices, can use small fields from which to operate. Dr. Brien Seeley, head of the Sustainable Aviation Foundation, has been a long-time proponent of what he called “pocket airparks.” These neighborhood or urban sites would be contained within roughly one-block perimeters, use aircraft capable of extremely short takeoffs and landings, low noise, and quick turnarounds. Electric aircraft and their quiet operation would allow placing such airparks in more areas and could make access to air travel as common as …
Landing Zones for All Those eVTOLs (and eCSTOLs)
Siting and Building Considerations at the 2019 SAS As we see an inrush of capital to finance new electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) machines and now electric Conventional Short Take Off and Landing (eCSTOL) machines, we are on the cusp of seeing newly envisioned landing zones for these machines. With the departure of Uber from the aerial scene, we probably won’t see the grandiose platforms the firm promoted. Your editor poked fun at these visions in his talk at the 2019 Sustainable Aviation Symposium at UC Berkeley, doubting that urban centers would welcome hundreds of arrivals and departures overhead day and night. Luckily, presenters who had worked on real-world re-imaginings of Uber’s grander vision helped talk your editor down. Byron Thurber, an ARUP architect, discussed “A Practical and Sustainable Transit Hub for Urban Air Mobility –the Uber Elevate Skyport.” Following LEEDS, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria, the sustainable building would retrofit an existing parking garage at …
Sustainable Aviation Symposium 2019
The 2019 Sustainable Aviation Symposium is moving to a new date and location – and a new inclusiveness. The University of California, Berkeley Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS) will host the 2019 Sustainable Aviation Symposium (SAS) on October 7-8 of 2019. SAS 2019 is focused on safe, quiet, electric aviation solutions to the most pressing problems of our age: climate change, urban surface gridlock, and the need for integrated community and urban planning to enable high proximity aviation at meaningful scale. Dr. Jasenka Rakas, founder and head of the Airport Design Studio at the University of California at Berkeley, and Sustainable Aviation Foundation founder and President Dr. Brien Seeley will co-chair the meeting that will present a challenging review of aviation’s green future. This year’s symposium will convene thought leaders to answer these core questions: Which systems will win a dominant share of the market and why? How will “urban air vehicles” be made “airline-safe” and autonomous? What new technologies are …
Metro Hop Leaps From Tall Buildings
Metro Hop™ is an electric, conventional fixed wing, all-weather aircraft designed to operate within the urban air mobility environment, according to their web site. Different Design Philosophies Metro Hop is a unique view from the leaders of the CAFE Foundation, which is often allied with the Vertical Flight Society. Metro Hop’s fixed-wing approach seems to fly in the face of the team’s normal affiliations. The Sustainable Aviation Foundation was established as a proponent of fixed-wing design by President Brien Seeley, and promotes “pocket airparks,” small urban and suburban airports that would distribute availability of short-range aircraft within walking or cycling distance for many urban dwellers. CAFE would distribute spaces similar to heliports on rooftops or on specialized buildings such as those envisioned by Uber as part of its LIFT program. Metro Hop, according to the development group, would cruise at 400 kilometers per hour (250 mph) and carry two passengers. Using current battery technology, it would have a 160 kilometer …