Vertiport regs for windspeeds

[GregLocock]

I don't suppose it is much news to say that I'm thoroughly opposed to eVTOL taxis , purely from the noise issue, but here is the FAA looking at something I didn't think about, the downwash and radial wind speeds under a rotorcraft as it lands and takes off. These are high enough that my nightmare of these things commonly landing in city streets is untenable. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/...es-evtol-downwash-challenge-vertiport-design?

 

[Sparweb]

Landing a copter on city streets? Never going to happen. Legally. It's already illegal for regular helicopters to do so.
Landing a eVTOL on city streets? Never going to happen. Legally. For the exact same reason as helicopters.

The police, fire, ambulance and other rescue services do it with waivers, special provisions in the law, plus special crew training and equipment on board.

Joby confirms that it participated in the surveys. The magnitudes of the outwash for the Joby S4 and Robinson R44 light helicopter are similar, the company said in a presentation on the testing to the Vertical Flight Society’s Forum 80 in May 2024. “The Joby S4 has a higher per-propeller disk loading than the R44 and approximately twice the overall weight,” the company noted.

So basically a JOBY can land anywhere a R44 can land. That's probably just fine for you and me. Not sure if the truth of that has sunk into the heads of the Joby investors, yet. The investors in Joby, and the folks who are eagerly lining up to be passengers, are probably expecting that they can land in Greg Locock's back garden. Whenever they please.

...the report notes that instantaneous winds can be more upsetting for people than sustained winds due to the startle response.

Startle response? The thing is so noisy everyone heard it coming a few minutes ago. No, the upsetting thing with rotor downwash is that it is UPSETTING. As in: human body displaced sideways and inverted by turbulent rotorwash exceeding 100mph.

"The resulting data shows that the Joby aircraft’s outwash does not present an increased risk relative to traditional light helicopters and is acceptable within established safety areas for heliports of all sizes.”

Good, the FAA is all geared up to permit these EVTOLs to use heliports and airports, just like the rest of them. Perfect.

Can't wait to see how they figure out the separation rules between EVTOLs and other aircraft. That won't be a simple thing, either. And probably require several more near-collisions (or some fatalities) before they get it right.