Urban-Air Port (UAP) has released details of its pioneering collaboration with Micro Nav, a specialist in the simulation of air traffic management and airspace operations.
This partnership will enable UAP to demonstrate the functionality of its Next-Gen AirOne vertiport, showing how it can be successfully integrated in real-time with flight schedules and aviation operations to help international, domestic and regional airport clients seamlessly integrate next-generation advanced air mobility infrastructure into their operations.
Preparing for the first eVTOL routes, UAP and Micro Nav will develop an industry-leading vertiport simulation that illustrates eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft ground movements for the next-generation AirOne vertiport. The simulation will cover one of the most important elements this industry needs to fully grasp – the real eVTOL ground operations.
The team will test ground operations for each eVTOL aircraft, from landing on the TLOF (landing pad) and descending via UAP’s revolutionary Vertical Airfield, to the hangar doors opening and the minimal push-backs of the aircraft to/from the adjacent hangar. According to the partners, Micro Nav’s experience in offshore carrier-based operations simulation for the UK Ministry of Defence’s F35 aircraft provides unique experience and exceptional precision in high-pressure, rapid turnaround scenarios. UAP and Micro Nav will use the simulation to train operators and clients, while demonstrating how a UAP vertiport provides a viable and sustainable business case for eVTOL operators.
“We’re delighted to partner with such a respected, trusted world leader in ATM [air traffic management] and airspace operations simulation as Micro Nav. Its relationships with high-capacity leading airports such as Dubai DXB and DWC, amongst many others, combined with its high-precision offshore-carrier expertise is a powerful mix. Together, we can show not just the efficient functionality of the AirOne vertiport, from passenger movements to charging, but also its integration within wider airport operations. This is an important step in the global deployment of UAP’s technology and for the industry at large,” said Andrea Wu, CEO, Urban-Air Port.
The simulation will also show arrival and departure passenger processing, eVTOL charging and MRO (maintenance, repair and operations). It will include several hours of operation, linked with a dozen aircraft movements an hour as a baseline for a “M” sized, eight-stand AirOne in several State of California, USA locations. It will highlight commuter routes to fast growing regions in close collaboration with local authorities, the regional FAA and real estate partners, and UAP’s eVTOL OEMs and operator partners.
To effectively demonstrate how UAP’s vertiport operations function and can be integrated within an airport, the simulated arrivals and departures will be timed to connect to the flight schedule at a US international airport. A second phase of the simulation, developed in conjunction with additional partners, will include modelling the vertiport network, encompassing air movements and multiple vertiports. Urban-Air Port described this as an exciting first step to building a viable pathway for this industry, and a model that can be stress-tested and rolled out at multiple locations simultaneously to define and guide the air space regulatory process and the ground-based planning process.
Image: Urban-Air Port
