Developing AAM infrastructure that can serve all vertical
aviation aircraft will require both a short and a long game, notes Alexander. Utilizing existing airports is the short game, he says. “Airports lend themselves better to the space requirements
and [just afford] more opportunities. In many cases, they also have the needed electrical capacity. Many heliports don’t have elec- tricity, and those that do have only 110-volt service, so moving in sufficient electricity [to support eVTOLs] is a huge chal- lenge,” Alexander says. Tere’s also the ques- tion of local politics and regulations surrounding infrastructure, says Kathryn Wright, VP at Heliplanners, an aviation planning firm specializing in heliport and verti- port development. Getting zoning approval “for a completely new animal” like a vertiport is “a big lift, a lot of work, and a much bigger uphill battle [in the current political
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environment], whereas a heliport, especially where there’s already local zoning approval, is a lot easier to handle. I tend to be of the belief that a vertiport should be [consid- ered] a type of heliport,” Wright says. Te long game is “to figure out what is and is not com-
“The legacy helicopter industry will definitely benefit from the influx of funding and technology AAM is going to bring to the low-altitude flight environment.”
—Rex Alexander, president, Five-Alpha
patible” in terms of “mixing helicopters in with eVTOLs at a single site,” says Alexander.He points to aircraft throughput vol- ume, multiple and simul- taneous operations, and wake turbulence as just a few of the variables that need to be considered when mixing in a 5,000-lb. eVTOL and, say, a 15,400-lb. Leonardo AW139 helicopter. “Are
they equivalent enough from a performance standpoint?” Alexander wonders. Te folks at Vertiport Chicago seem to think they are.
Located off the South Loop in downtown Chicago, Illinois, the facility sprawls over 10 acres and sports ramp space for
46 ROTOR JUNE 2024
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