German air taxi startup Volocopter announced on Friday that the FAA has accepted its application for concurrent type certificate validation for its VoloCity electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The company is currently pursuing certification of the VoloCity under EASA’s SC-VTOL rule, which was published in July 2019. Volocopter hopes to receive that certification in the next two to three years.
“From the beginning, we have considered the U.S. an important market for our services,” said Volocopter CEO Florian Reuter. “Certification is the key to this market, and we are excited to begin the process of seeking approval from the FAA to introduce this innovative era of mobility not only in Europe and Asia but also in the U.S.”
Unveiled in August 2019, the VoloCity air taxi is Volocopter’s fourth-generation eVTOL. It is expected to have a range of 35 km (19 NM), top airspeed of 110 km/h (59 knots) and payload of 200 kg (441 pounds). Volocopter reports that its eVTOL designs have completed more than 1000 test flights since 2011.
From a charging location, to a pickup location, to a dropoff location, to a charging location – all within 19 nautical miles? And with what kind of reserve endurance?
Based on what information is in the article, simple third-grade arithmetic says that this vehicle has an endurance of 20 minutes.
More questions than answers. That seems to be SOP with these miracle vehicles.
What keeps this eVTOL stuff going is that while the battery charge lasts they can actually be pretty decent flying machines. Build one, shoot lots of cool video clips, and you’re good to go as long as your true business plan doesn’t involve delivering a production vehicle that is practical to use. Besides, that retrofit STC’d miracle power storage thingie is coming any time now.
Why does anyone expect a government that can’t distribute vaccines, can’t oversee the proper certification of the 737 MAX without letting the manufacturer do it for them, and can’t ensure safe water for millions of Americans assume they’ll get this right? Just wait for the politicians and bureaucrats to run for cover when one of these things smashes into a crowd of people minding their own business. You can be sure that the owners of Volocopter have made damned sure they’re well protected against lawsuits and that they’ll take as much (by which I mean as little) responsibility as Zuckerberg and his ilk.
That may depend on whether it’s the right crowd.
So the FAA has signed off on an EASA-spec approval for Trendy Multicopter, but will likely never revisit its not-invented-here position toward European Ultralight/Microlight categories and US Ultralight and LSA rules.