Will air trips to work and to the country be possible in 2020?

Overview

This article investigates on-demand urban air transportation and its future. The material is based on an extended research and analysis of the market pioneered by Uber, Porsche, and Airbus, consulting companies' reports, and the interview with a visionary of a Russian flying taxi startup. There are a few essential topics discussed: safety of future flights, readiness of the infrastructure, business logic.

Along with some big manufacturers, there are small startups involved in prototyping and construction of electrical vertical take-off and landing aircrafts (EVTOL). One of such Russian companies, Bartini is testing its model in the Moscow region. I talked to the community and technology advisor at McFly.Aero, a technology incubator for manufacturers of electric aircrafts like Bartini, business owners, developers, as well as passengers.

It is argued in the article that commercial EVTOL flights would start before autonomous cars become widespread due to the well-developed autopilot technology in aviation. However, consulting companies identify five major obstacles to the launch of on-demand flights: unfledged technology, legislation, infrastructure, flight control, safety, and psychological barriers. Yet, the active development of air delivery by means of drones would probably bring the launch of passenger air travel closer.

Original article: https://strelkamag.com/ru/article/budem-li-my-letat-na-rabotu-i-za-gorod-v-2020-godu

Uber, Rolls-Royce, and Airbus promise that 2020 will be the the first year in the era of flying taxis. With the help of passenger electric aircrafts, we will be able to travel dozens of kilometers in a matter of minutes. Working prototypes are already taking off in Germany, the USA, and the Moscow region, but it’s still difficult to imagine “Uber Aviation.” Strelka Mag investigates if cities are ready for flying public transport and what Russian manufacturers can present in this field today.

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WHICH COMPANIES ARE DEVELOPING ELECTRIC AIRCRAFTS?

In addition to Bartini, “on-demand aviation” work was announced, for example, by Porsche, Rolls-Royce, and Airbus, which develop several models at once. American helicopter company Bell is working alongside NASA to start supplying Uber air taxi services in 2020. Aurora company that designs and builds drones as a subsidiary of Boeing has also announced shipments for Uber.

Prior to this, the company studied the potential market for flying taxis and found that it could significantly improve urban mobility and reduce the time that citizens spend on travel. The research has resulted in the Uber Elevate project. Dallas and Los Angeles were named the first cities where Uber plans to introduce flights. <...>

Porshe analysts have calculated the distance that is more convenient to travel by car and from what point it makes sense to fly on a city air taxi. According to their research, air taxis will save time at distances of twenty kilometers or more.

WHO IS BUILDING AIR TAXIS IN RUSSIA?

Large aerospace and technology companies like Uber and Aerobus are actively promoting the idea of ​​passenger flights around the city, but small startups are also entering the industry. It is often hard for them to get into the market on their own. Entrepreneurs from Russia and Europe have created the McFly.Aero hub in order to bring together manufacturers of electric aircrafts, business owners, developers, and passengers.

McFly.Aero deals with the infrastructure of flying taxis; it connects electric aircraft manufacturers with companies that produce software, interiors, and infrastructure for charging and parking. The company operates on blockchain and uses its own functional token, which can be used to pay for air taxi trips in the future. Currently the tokens are used in a system of interaction between entrepreneurs.

Three manufacturers work within the hub at the moment. One of them, Bartini, is already testing its prototype. The model does not yet accommodate passengers; it is basically a two-meter drone with eight propellers. This model is used for testing aerodynamics and equipment. In a year, the company hopes to begin testing the full-size unit. The founders of Bartini say that their taxi will fly at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour and will be able to cover 150 kilometers at a time.

WHO WILL PILOT A PASSENGER DRONES AND WILL IT BE SAFE?

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Uber official documents state that a flying taxi trip should be two times safer than an ordinary trip by car. This is, first of all, due to automation and a propulsion system with several propellers. Even if one of them fails, the device will be able to continue the flight and land safely.

The McFly hub attracts individual companies that deal with safety issues. They use machine learning to prevent breakdowns. E-Volo has added an air parachute to its Volocopter in addition to autopilot, which will ensure a soft landing for the aircraft. The Volocopter is able to fly even if 4 out of its 18 installed propellers fail.

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WHAT CAN HINDER THE ELECTRIC AIRCRAFTS IMPLEMENTATION?

Deloitte consultants identified five possible holdbacks: unfledged technology, legislation, infrastructure, flight control, safety, and psychological barriers. Experts believe that the advancement of delivery drones will help to cope with these challenges. Although battery capacity now limits the drone flights to a couple of dozens of kilometers, large retailers like Amazon are already launching test deliveries. Given that delivery drones face similar safety and legal issues as the passenger electric aircrafts, the active development of air delivery will bring the launch of passenger air travel closer.

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