New patent revealed at Avalon Airshow promises safer, space-saving vertiport infrastructure for Advanced Air Mobility, with research showing up to 250% faster energy dissipation than flat tarmac.
by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNab
Australian vertiport developer Skyportz recently unveiled the patent for their innovative anti-downwash and outwash drone vertipad design at the Avalon International Airshow in Melbourne today.
The modular vertipad patent addresses one of the stand-out issues for Advanced Air Mobility in urban locations – amelioration of downwash and outwash.
According to the FAA, “The airflow generated from the aircraft’s rotors/propellers during takeoff and landing, known as downwash and outwash (DWOW), can pose significant risks to people and property in the vicinity of aircraft operations. Downwash is the vertical, downward flow of air produced by rotors/propellers while outwash is the lateral, radial, outward airflow that occurs as the downwash contacts the landing surface.”
“The negative impacts of DWOW may be exacerbated at vertiport locations in urban areas where high-volume, high-tempo operations are proposed because of the dense populations and higher throughput in those areas.”
In the FAA’s announcement, they suggested that vertiports will require fairly significant “wind safety” buffers around the actual landing sites. According to Skyportz, the actual required physical dimensions of the safety zone will likely differ between aircraft but will result in significant additional footprint requirements.
The Skyportz Anti-Downwash Vertipad
The Swinburne University study released today has indicated that the Skyportz modular vertipad may dissipate energy up to 250% faster than an air taxi landing on a flat tarmac.
“The Skyportz vertipad patent has some very real applications as cities move to establishing vertiport networks outside of existing airports and helipads”, said Skyportz CEO Clem Newton-Brown. “It means that with our vertipad you can safely use less land or fit more pads onto smaller plots”.
Skyportz says it aims to “break the nexus” between aviation and airports and enable commercial and industrial property developers to host vertiports.
“The vertiport infrastructure is the missing piece of the puzzle for this industry. Without a multitude of new vertipad landing sites in places people want to go, the aircraft will never fulfil their potential. The interest from the property industry is rapidly building – we envisage that those properties with vertipads will attract higher rents as businesses seek to provide air taxi services for customers”, said Newton-Brown “The Skyportz vertipad patent provides the solution”
CASA, the Australian air regulator, recently released new vertiport guidelines, the most recent signal of their commitment to facilitate Advanced Air Mobility in Australia. In addition, EASA and FAA have also released vertiport guidelines, providing new global opportunities for AAM infrastructure.
Professor Justin Leontini from the Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology said, “The design concept of the Skyportz vertipad could dissipate power up to two and a half times faster than if an air taxi were to use a flat concrete landing surface. The first iteration of the modelling conducted by Swinburne University has experimented with different landing surface treatments described in the patent. Our next step will involve adding mechanical devices detailed in the patent under and around the vertipad which we expect will induce a Magnus effect and dissipate energy at an even higher rate while directing flows to desired zones away from waiting passengers. The practical implications for this research are that the safety area requirements around a vertipad may be reduced, enabling operations from smaller footprints safely”.
The Skyportz vertipad is protected by Australian provisional patent number 2024901767 with all international rights reserved. Skyportz intends to license the manufacturing and distribution of their vertipad design globally.
More information on Skyportz is available here.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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