The dream of an electric small aircraft that can transport large numbers of people or cargo has come a little closer – that’s how Beta Technologies, one of the leading manufacturers in the field of eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing), sees it. During an important test flight as part of a US Federal Aviation Administration program, the company successfully transported prototypes of artificial organs – but it will still take years for them to be certified and thus truly suitable for mass use.
Read more after the ad
But first things first. Beta Technologies is committed to the development of small, purely electrically powered aircraft. The aim is to make aviation more sustainable and suitable for the masses. Specifically, the company, founded in 2017, is currently working on two types of models. The vertical take-off aircraft ALIA VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) and the fixed-wing aircraft ALIA CTOL (Conventional Takeoff and Landing), which requires a runway. Customers include Air New Zealand, United Therapeutics, the US Army and various others. When it went public, the company raised $1 billion in capital. Some may feel that the Beta aircraft is reminiscent of the German air taxi manufacturer Lilium, which finally went bankrupt last year after an insolvency that was initially averted by Bavaria. The patents went to a US investor.
USA wants to enable air taxis
In Washington, people are extremely fond of the idea of such “flying taxis” and, in general, of a cheap aircraft that can be used on a mass scale and are talking about Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). The US Transportation Authority does not mean any specific type of aircraft, but rather those that can provide “flexible, affordable and easily accessible flights for all Americans.” The Leibniz Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) has already found in a study that eVTOLs for passenger transport hardly deliver any sustainability effects. But in the USA, certification for air transport is more of an obstacle. Nothing came of Beta’s announcement that a CTOL would be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as early as 2025. But the company continues to pursue its goal.
The FAA is launching a pilot program for various applications this summer that will take place in 26 US states, and Beta is also strongly represented here. In the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), relevant manufacturers are supposed to test applications such as air taxis, long-haul flights, cargo and supply flights. In addition, automation potential should be tested.
Still a long way from FAA certification
The program’s first test flight has now taken place successfully, completed by a Beta CTOL aircraft. The test was carried out in collaboration with United Therapeutics (Unither), a biotechnology manufacturer that also works on the artificial production of human organs. If these were to go into series production, Unither would also need a means of transport that could deliver to patients quickly. Beta wants to take over this function. As a test, the Beta pilots transported prototypes of artificial organs from Virginia to Maryland, about 510 kilometers away.
Read more after the ad
This is an important milestone in the development of AAM. And according to ZEW, urban air mobility could actually be useful in emergency operations and to integrate remote regions. However, Beta and all of its competitors are still a long way from achieving general FAA certification. This is what a document from the authority reveals: The eIPP, which could result in the first such certification or at least a specific catalog of requirements for it, is scheduled for three years – but the period only runs as soon as the first project becomes operational. This means that if Unither and Beta can start pilot operations, it would take at least a few years for certification – and thus into the next decade.
Read also
(nen)
