• 23 Feb 2019 11:37 AM
• 0

EASA and FAA Consider eVTOL

At the VFS Electric VTOL Symposium, Greg Bowles, the vice president of global innovation at the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), noted that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has proposed adding a “special condition” for non-helicopter VTOL aircraft. Bowles noted that the proposed “SC-VTOL” incorporates significant parts from EASA’s CS-23 certification specification for light airplanes — which would expedite certification of eVTOL aircraft — but most of the added specificity was likely to set back efforts for certification. Bowles warned that if EASA adopted VTOL as a completely separate certification category apart from airplanes and rotorcraft that it could delay certification for “decades.”