Abstract

In 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Technology Research and Development Branch (ATR) initiated a research project to evaluate electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and their potential impact on airport and heliport design standards. Work commenced through the award of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to solicit information from various eVTOL aircraft design concepts at the time and to identify and assess any known takeoff and landing performance that may change the way ground infrastructure is designed. The goal was to develop a set of minimum standards for the design and establishment of landing areas for civil use of eVTOL aircraft. Over the course of 6 years, the FAA conducted numerous research activities via an additional BAA in 2022, followed by a support contract for vertiport design awarded in 2024. As the research and subsequent policy evolved, research tests included both helicopters and eVTOLs due to their similarities and the FAA’s decision to move toward a unified infrastructure standard in Engineering Brief (EB) 105A.
This document is meant to serve as a concise presentation of the FAA’s research performed to date on ground infrastructure in this evolving and dynamic realm of advanced air mobility (AAM). The content is arranged as a road map through various research campaigns, to help the reader understand the approach, the iterative methodologies used, and findings and conclusions. Research activities comprised literature reviews and gap analyses, vertiport modeling and simulation, and field assessment and quantification of downwash and outwash wind velocities and landing accuracy for helicopters and eVTOLs.