VTOL(vertical take-off and landing) aircraft are coming but not anytime soon.
Aircraft progress ranges from conceptual designs to complete prototypes and early test flights.
But commercial aviation is a while away.
Further, a focus on the aircraft and the required regulations has overlooked the management of their journeys.
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But the real work starts even earlier.
But in urban air mobility, vertiports (take-off and landing facilities) are designed to be urban compatible.
Theyre going to be small.
There wont be a square kilometer to park a vehicle on the right.
He explained that his company had spoken to just about every relevant eVTOL manufacturer in the world right now.
How close are we to full aircraft automation?
Automation is critical to the future of urban air mobility.
Commitments to buy include several hundred respective orders ofArcher,Eve UAM,Lilium,Volocopter, andEHangaircraft.
The two paths are generally separate until at least 2030.
And the transition to fully automated flight is even further off.
Both roles require a pilot to manage frequent levels of complexity.
And what were seeing today is that the industry expects someone to develop a system.
This will limit the number of contingencies the pilot has to deal with.
And this is where Skyroads comes in.
An early idea was flying and landing on buildings.
There have been several investments in placing vertiports on top of existing structures,.
An example is VTOL makersArcher and Joby partnering with Reef Technologyto turn the top of parking garages into vertiports.
However, Huber questions the structural integrity of the architecture.
A lack of human elevators, and necessary power supplies, are just a few concerns.
He suggests building from scratch is more feasible than retrofitting.
There are currently no EVTOLs flying today: we do not have a market.
However, Huber raised an additional issue I hadnt considered funding.
For companies like Skyroads, having nocommercial eVTOLsin the air yet, means gaining market traction in related verticals.
Theyll be used during theSailGP(an international yacht race).
This replaces the need for helicopters, reducing noise, air pollution, staffing, and cost.
Huber described an industry of players struggling to find early applications to prove their product viability.
Not all of these fundraising efforts have prospered.
Right-sizing and market shift are good for the overall economic health of sectors, unlike overinflated markets.
Many cities want urban air mobility to prosper, but they shouldnt hold their breath waiting.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
