Aerospace & Defense Technology - October 2024 - 16

Modeling & Simulation
Rethinking Infrastructure
An Uber Black can pick someone up
directly from their office or home, but
AAMs are too large to just land anywhere
a car can drive. Introducing a fleet of air
taxis to a city will require building the
infrastructure to support them. Fortunately,
air taxis do not need runways.
They can take off and land vertically in
facilities called vertiports. These are specialized
facilities - a cross between an
airport and bus station - where AAM
aircraft can land and take off, charge
their batteries, and be serviced.
When a passenger wants to take an
This image shows the use of Siemens technology for an eVTOL structural simulation. (Image: Siemens
Digital Industries Software)
into existing batteries - something
called " energy-density. " Batteries have
been used to power ground based electric
cars and trucks for many years, but
there are some unique safety requirements
for vehicles that fly.
If an electric car's batteries die, the
vehicle can stop on the side of the road
while the vehicle operator calls for assistance.
If an air taxi's batteries die, it will
likely crash. AAM operators must take
several steps to make sure that will never
happen. Like all commercial aircraft,
AAMs will be required to land with
reserve power. They also will require far
more power to fly into the wind than to
fly with it. These factors and more
reduce the range of AAM vehicles.
Extending AAM profits and margins
is directly tied to extending air taxi
operating ranges. The most direct path
to extended range is higher energy-density
batteries. This will provide
more route options, vehicles that can
carry more passengers, and longer
operation between charging. To
achieve favorable operating margins
most AAM operators will likely require
the energy-density of batteries to double,
new ways to maximize the energy
from batteries, or alternative options
to power AAM flight such as hydrogen.
air taxi somewhere, they will travel to
the closest vertiport to board one. The
challenge is building enough vertiports
to make AAM travel a viable
option. Consider the example at the
beginning of this article. If there were
still 10 blocks of heavy traffic between
the hotel and the closest vertiport, the
time it takes to travel between them
could render the whole point of AAM
moot. Vertiports will need to be strategically
placed in sufficient numbers
around cities to ensure they are a viable
form of transportation for those
who need them.
Achieving Certification
AAM is an entirely new class of aircraft,
but like every airplane and helicopter
that came before it, everyone
A Siemens simulation of the interior of a future vertiport. (Image: Siemens Digital Industries Software)
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Aerospace & Defense Technology, October 2024

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Aerospace & Defense Technology - October 2024

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