AVIONICS.qxp_Finance 22/02/2022 13:45 Page 1
AVIONICS
eVTOL Avionics: What will be Different? What factors will drive and regulate the development of avionics aboard the emerging eVTOL aircraft? Ken Elliott takes a look... lectric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL), also collectively termed Urban Air Mobility (UAM), is one of the new thrusts in civil aviation platform development. Others include Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), and Supersonic aircraft. Almost as though straight out of the Jetsons, the emerging eVTOL sector has only been in development for just over 10 years. The main distinctions of eVTOL from other aircraft is electric/hybrid propulsion, vertical take-off and landing, and an operating architecture intended for urban air mobility/air taxi services. To understand the avionics required for eVTOL, it’s essential to review the broader eVTOL platform as one category of air transport:
E 1. 2. 3. 4.
Light & Sport Aircraft Helicopter Fixed-Wing Supersonic (emerging)
90 Vol 26 Issue 3 2022 AVBUYER MAGAZINE
5. eVTOL (emerging) 6. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (emerging) 7. Flying Cars (future). Both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters can be electric. Both, however, are not strictly eVTOL. Aircraft models in the eVTOL category can be designed and developed for Military, Commercial (Passenger and Cargo), Business and General Aviation, Urban Air Transport, Urban Air Mobility (Urban), and Advanced Air Mobility (Inter-Urban). The independent category of eVTOL platforms, mostly in development, fall into the following types of intended power source. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Fully Electric Hybrid Electric and Fossil Fuels Electric and Fossil Fuel Derived (such as Hydrogen Fuel Cell). www.AVBUYER.com
