By André BORD, Honorary Member of the Air and Space Academy
This presentation analyses the design characteristics and performances of electrically powered aircraft , aimed at the urban passenger transport market , which could significantly reduce both the urban traffic congestion and its associated pollution.
The specification for these aircraft are based upon the Uber Elevate White Paper (2016) , complemented by a more detailed review of operational and system aspects. Two possible practical operational implementations are considered , either an airborne “metro” or a classical airborne taxi. A comprehensive review of a selection of existing projects reveals the multitude of options and indicates a wide range of performances difficult to understand for vehicles supposedly aimed at the same specification . The identification of the state of the art and development perspective of the main components of the propulsion chain and of the “glider” are then presented. This enables a selection of a preferred configuration based upon the tandem wings concept which is presented with some details , and its preliminary performance assessment and a comparison with the targeted specification requirements and the published data.
The technical risks associated with the full size development of these vehicles are then reviewed. The main one is the safety aspect which is under the control of the certification agencies (EASA,NASA ,CAAC , ….) which have published independent requirements , in particular the EASA “Special Condition VTOL Aircraft” , July 2019 , which is commented. Numerous points of concern are identified , in particular the management of the propulsion system failure and the precautions necessary to prevent or mitigate battery fire. Another major point is the acoustic nuisance which deserved a specific analysis , defining demanding target noise levels to enable public acceptance and reviewing the noise characteristics of distributed propulsion systems.
It is concluded that with the current battery technology performances , e-VTOL can just meet the Uber specification requirements , but major issues such as acoustic nuisances , costs of operation and development of the infrastructures deserve further analysis.
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