User:NicolasZart/sandbox

From UAM to AAM
Electric Air Mobility is a subset of what we now call Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) a term NASA coined in 2017. Back in 2015, many confused eVTOL and Urban Air Mobility (UAM. Whereas UAM is restricted to intra-city travel, regional air mobility opens it up to in-between cities. In many ways, AAM became a broad all-encompassing term and is by definition futuristic. AAM encompasses anything unforeseen as of yet, hence the difficulty in giving a solid definition of AAM. In fact, NASA's definition of AAM is different from the Vertical Flight Society as it different from the NBAA, aviation companies, so on. Simply put, AAM means different things to various groups. AAM can include rockets and hydrogen propulsion both with fuel-cells and burning it in an internal combustion engine (ICE)

In light of things, we proposed the electric air mobility as an encompassing term for eVTOLs, eSTOLs, and eCTOLs that would limit itself to electric aircraft. As such, hydrogen propulsion platform wouldn't neatly fit as they rely on fuel-cells and are then by definition hybrid systems. If hydrogen is burned in a turbine or opposing piston, it folds under ICE technology. Therefore, electric air mobility neatly defines electric propulsion aircraft. It would be best to see electric air mobility as a subset of AAM.

eVTOL, eSTOL, and eCTOL
The difference between eVTOL, eSTOL, and eCTOL is fairly easy to understand. eVTOLs can hover, take-off and land horizontally. In contrast, eCTOLs take-off and land like a traditional airplane using a runway. eSTOLs are particularly interesting as they take-off and land like a conventional airplane, but over a much smaller distance. Instead of the thousand feet or so a conventional airplane needs to create lift under its wings, an eSTOL only requires 150 feet to take-off and land sometimes much smaller distances.

Who is active in the AAM field?
AAM finds many aviation groups under its umbrella. NASA, the Vertical Flight Society, Helicopter Association International, NBAA, obviously the US and international aviation bodies, such as the US FAA and European EASA among many. The US NTSB is looking into grasping the potential disasters electric air vehicle will have to face and how it will respond. Moreover, the US DoT is also involved with AAM as vertiports, the place where eVTOLs and other AAM vehicle will land and take off will need to be connected to roads and public transportation. The fire departments and police of cities have to be involved to handle emergencies.

Resources


 * VFS
 * NASA
 * FAA
 * NBAA