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AAM Infrastructure Workshop 2024
  • 18 Nov 2024 01:26 PM
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AAM Infrastructure Workshop 2024

By Rex Alexander, VFS Infrastructure Advisor
Vertiflite, November/December 2024

[Featured Image: The AAM Infrastructure Workshop was held at the US Navy Memorial Visitor Center. (VFS photos)]

VFS held its eighth workshop to enhance government and industry dialogue and understanding of eVTOL infrastructure challenges and solutions.

Once again, the month of September saw numerous subject matter experts and key stakeholders gathered to discuss advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure. Designed to provide a platform for experts from government, industry and academia to collaborate in developing the next generation of infrastructure for the expected ecosystem of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the Vertical Flight Society’s AAM Infrastructure Workshop moved the needle a little closer to reality.

This eighth workshop was held Sept. 17–18 — at the site of the first meeting in September 2019 — at the US Navy Memorial Visitor Center, in Washington, DC, aiming to support the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry in safely and efficiently introducing AAM into the national airspace. Key discussions at this year’s infrastructure workshop included the following.

FAA Vertiport Engineering Brief 105A
Robert Bassey, an electrical engineer with the FAA Airports Division, provided an overview of where the Vertiport Design Engineering Brief (EB 105A) currently stood and what progress had been made to date. In fact, the engineering brief was released three days later (see “Washington Report,” pg. 4). Having the workshop just before it was released was helpful for the community to reach consensus and respond within the 30- day deadline.

Ryan Naru of workshop-sponsor Joby Aviation set the stage for the industry feedback on the FAA’s Vertiport Design Engineering Brief

Vertiport Symbology Research and Testing Update
Cliff Johnson, a research engineer at the FAA Technical Center, provided an update regarding the ongoing research being conducted on vertiport symbology. Johnson explained that this testing started out in their S-76D Simulator, with follow- on research conducted using the FAA’s new virtual reality (VR) flight simulators provided by Loft Dynamics (formerly VRM Switzerland). Johnson explained that the key effort of the research was to evaluate which symbology — i.e., the FAA vertiport “broken wheel,” the traditional heliport “H” or the vertiport “V” proposed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) — provided pilots with the best visual information regarding site acquisition, rate closure, approach angle feedback and drift correlation at a hover. Johnson indicated that the research is ongoing and that the next phase of testing will incorporate lighting to evaluate night operations.

Weather Information for AAM Operations
Moderated by Nancy Mendonca, Deputy AAM Mission Integration Office at NASA — with panel members Michelle Whitcher of the FAA, Don Berchoff of TruWeather Solutions, Rex Alexander of Five-Alpha and Hanbong Lee of NASA — this session took a closer look at where the industry currently is versus where it needs to be regarding the aviation weather data ecosystem.

The panel outlined the need for qualifying third-party weather providers (3PWPs) to enable the qualification of non-federal 3PWPs’ weather information to supplement gaps in providing essential weather information to uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and AAM flights outside of METeorological Aerodrome Report (METAR) and Terminal Area Forecast (TAF) areas. This effort includes the development of policies and processes to evaluate 3PWPs and the data they provide to meet or exceed a level equivalent to those currently approved by the FAA Administrator.

ASTM International’s F38.02 Subcommittee is working on a new specification for providers of services for urban air mobility (UAM) interoperability  (WK85415) to define interoperability protocols, interfaces and functional requirements for digital traffic management systems for UAM. Another recent standard to help with this on-going effort is ASTM F3673-23, Standard Specification for Performance for Weather Information Reports, Data Interfaces, and Weather Information Providers (WIPs), which was championed by Berchoff.

After the panel discussion, Mendonca led a guided brainstorming session through a variety of use cases for how weather observations will get from the sensor to the user based upon the stakeholders’ roles, with an effort to capture the advantages and disadvantages of each case. Mendonca indicated that feedback from this session will be used to help inform future research and efforts at NASA in the AAM weather arena.

Developing Local Knowledge for AAM
Moderated by Greg Carr of Architecture Technology Corporation (ATCorp), with panel members Clint Harper of Harper4D Solutions, Geoff Rankin of Congressional Aviation and Rex Alexander of Five-Alpha, this session focused on local, regional and state level education gaps and needs. Appropriate educational material for the non-aviation professional has not kept pace with the development of AAM concepts and technologies, which puts the viability of implementing AAM at risk. ATCorp was awarded a research project through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to help address this issue. Carr outlined the program that ATCorp hopes will assist local and state decisionmakers in enabling AAM operations. A primary component of their envisioned program includes the development of an intelligent, web-based portal for AAM education material for use by public agencies. Carr explained this as a one-stop, easily accessible resource for stakeholders to access and become educated on key aspects related to AAM that may be of interest to them based on their organization and role.

Certification and Airspace Integration Priorities
Moderated by Dr. Ashira Beutler-Green of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), she and Lockheed Martin Senior Fellow Nick Lappos and former NASA Aeronautics executive Herb Schlickenmaier provided an overview of AIAA’s efforts to provide a vision for AAM certification and airspace integration priorities. The panel pointed to four novel regulatory considerations: 1) survival of novel technology in a proscriptive regulatory environment, 2) special conditions to address multiple airplane certification requirements, 3) feasibility of a performance-based regulatory environment and when to consider a reformulation of airworthiness regulations; and 4) the likelihood of alignment among global regulatory authorities and means of compliance for advanced fly-by-wire control laws and artificial intelligence (AI) concepts.

Finally, the panel identified three key requirements to help implement the organization’s vision: 1) create a standing committee for alignment of stakeholder priorities, 2) develop basic education resources and provide mentorship for new entrants, and 3) advocate for a networked National Airspace System (NAS) of the future.

The AAM Communications, Navigation and Surveillance session was moderated by Clint Harper of Harper4D Solutions (far right)

AAM Communications, Navigation and Surveillance
Moderated by Clint Harper of Harper4D Solutions — with panel members Virginia Stouffer of Transformational Technologies; Lisa Peterson of AURA Network Systems; Jonathan Daniels of DroneUp, LLC; and Dash Divakaran of AIRAVAT Solutions — the panel of communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems explored the evolving needs as the AAM ecosystem matures. Of significant importance to many was the discussion on the current state of autonomous beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations and the challenges in scaling and merging UAS high-tempo environments into the traditional aviation marketplace. This was followed by a number of discussions related to the technologies, regulations and investments that will be necessary in ground infrastructure to support future AAM and UAS operations.

Safety Management Systems in AAM Infrastructure
Moderated by Nicky Armor of the MITRE Corp., along with panel members Rex Alexander of Five-Alpha, Jim Wilson of MITRE Corp. and Michael Vincent of NASA, the group provided a comprehensive overview of current safety challenges and innovative safety management system (SMS) solutions as they apply to vertical flight infrastructure. The group explored lessons learned from traditional heliport infrastructure-related accidents and how those may be applied to risks associated with more complex vehicles and AAM operations evolving in the NAS. Wilson stressed the critical importance of correctly analyzing hazards as they relate to safety culture impacts and ultimately the effectiveness of an organization’s SMS.

Vincent provided attendees with an overview of NASA’s ideas regarding an In-Time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS). This approach involved moving from today’s traditional human-centric system to a much more digitally transformed infrastructure that would pave the way for a more complex and dynamically adaptable automation-enabled system in the future.

The final panel discussion was led by the VFS Infrastructure Advisor and lead workshop organizer Rex Alexander (far left), with insightful input by infrastructure leaders from Archer, Wisk and Beta

eVTOL Developer Infrastructure Roundtable
Moderated by Rex Alexander of Five- Alpha — including panel members Chris Johnson of Archer Aviation, Chip Palombini of Beta Technologies and Torrie Meliska of Wisk Aero, three of the leading US eVTOL developers — the group examined the companies' “needs and wants” that will foster a successful AAM transportation ecosystem. While the group discussed numerous topics related to AAM infrastructure, regulations and standards were at the top of the list. All of the panelists provided their perspectives on the FAA Vertiport Engineering Brief that there did not need to be a fundamental shift in how vertiports are designed versus how heliports are designed today.

The panel agreed that, for AAM infrastructure to gain acceptance in the public eye, industry needed to be a good neighbor. To achieve this goal, there is an underlying need to ensure that infrastructure meets an agreed-upon and harmonized standard. In conjunction with harmonized standards, the group acknowledged that the second tier to acceptance that would be necessary is that all vertical flight infrastructure needs to be incorporated into an SMS program, similar to how airports are certified today under the FAA’s Part 139 of the US Code of Federal Regulations.

Final Thoughts
The traditional brainstorm session was held on the final day of this eighth workshop; attendees provided their thoughts on what they considered were the next topics of importance that industry needs to focus on.

The AAM Infrastructure Workshop was held at the US Navy Memorial Visitor Center. (VFS photos)

At the top of almost everyone’s list was communications. Several commented on the challenges as to what spectrum(s) should and could be utilized, as well as how to harden any communication system against potential cyberattacks from bad actors. Additional topics included near-term system automation, regional variations, economic incentives, instrument flight rules (IFR)-capable infrastructure, workforce requirements, training and licensing needs and supply chain challenges.

Government and industry attendees alike found the workshop to be very insightful and helpful in moving towards greater understanding and general consensus on future infrastructure requirements and needs.

VFS greatly thanks the sponsors of this workshop: Architecture Technology Corporation, Joby Aviation, PS&S Engineering, UAM Geomatics — A NEXA Capital Company, and Woolpert.

To purchase the video recordings or presentation slides, or to learn more about VFS infrastructure initiatives, look for the links at www.vtol.org/infrastructure.

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