A pop-up urban airport which will showcase so-called “flying cars” and also drones is to be opened in Coventry, with government support for programs that tackle road congestion and pollution. As shown by slick computer-generated marketing imagery, the zero-emission hub, called Air One, will be located close to the Ricoh Arena in the north of the city.
Developed by Urban AirPort, a London-based infrastructure-as-a-service company, the hub is designed to demonstrate how so-called “flying cars” and cargo drones will integrate with the infrastructure they will need to be used in urban environments.
Despite being popularly referred to as “flying cars”, EVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) vehicles are basically electric helicopters, not cars that will be driven on roads and then also flown. The lightweight vehicles could potentially be used to taxi people between skyscraper rooftops, or – as Urban AirPort designs show – from landing hubs on the River Thames to elsewhere in London.
Air One is one of three modular infrastructure designs – alongside Ground One and Water One, which go on land and water respectively – that would allow various flying vehicles to dock and land. The idea is to demonstrate how future air taxis and cargo drones will integrate with infrastructure that can be installed at multiple points around a city.
It provides space for charging, for take-off, and for landing – with the take-off platform being elevated high enough from the ground to reduce noise levels, something which poses a number of regulatory hurdles for traditional heliports. Among the devices to be trialed in Coventry will be large cargo drones developed by Malloy Aeronautics, a British technology company, although there will not be any passenger flights.
Sources: Proactive