e-flight-Journal_4-2022

Cover eFlight Story Forum
DRIVERS OF ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT: FROM REGULATORY POLICY TO PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE.
First Session on day two was about “Drivers of Electric
Aircraft Development: From Regulatory Policy to Public
Acceptance.”All factors for vehicle and component development
are important for the next steps.
First presenter in the panel was Jean Daniel Sülberg, the
Head of DLR Cochstedt Test Centre for UAS/UAM, which was
opened in May 2022 and is participating in several national
and international programs. He reported on the experience of
building up a test centre for integration of UAS/UAM into existing
traffic. Several German and international manufacturers
started testing in Magdeburg-Cochstedt and in November
2022 had a first official demonstration of traffic with an ambulance
helicopter and an unmanned Volodrone. Sühlberg also
pointed out the specialities of the area as it is a cooperative effort
from the existing 55 institutes. The DLR bought the existing
Airport Magdeburg Cochstedt with its 2500-meter runway
and modified it to this test centre. Companies from all over the
world can come there and run their test campaigns.
Although in the name it is says that it is an“Experimental test
centre for unmanned aircraftsystems,” Sühlberg stated that
manned eVTOLs and eSTOLs are welcomed as well so that
now the wording Test Centre for AAM (Advanced Air Mobility)
would be more precise. As one of the more than 30 test
areas in Europe, Cochstedt is one of the few which is large
enough that full-size eVTOLs can fly a full transition. The great
advantage is that Cochstedt is far out from any large city,which
minimizes the risk. For trying out test scenarios in an urban
environment, DLR plans to build model environments for eV-
TOL-ports and larger buildings.
Following the DLR Test Centre presentation, David Solar, the
EASA’s Head of General Aviation and VTOL department, reported
on what has happened in the European aerospace
agency EASA in the last year. He gave an overview of how the
unmanned and manned efforts in certification and operation
come together. He also explained the differences between the
U.S.-FAA approach and the EASA approach with the SC-VTOL
rules. The new organization of the airspace, in order to get eV-
TOL taxis and large drones in the air, is an especially big subject.
The final speaker of the session was Michael Hillermeier,
Volocopter’s head of strategy and program manager of Volodrone.
He gave an overview of Volocopter’s different eVTOL
activities, from the latest event with Volodrone in Cochstedt,
to the Paris opening of the first Vertiport in Pontoise with the
Volocity (together with Skyports), and up to the maiden flight
of the “Lift and Cruise” VoloRegion, formerly called VoloConnect,
which had its maiden flight in the historic Airport Oberschleißheim
close to Munich. He explained that the backbone
of the Volocopter system is the VoloIQ which is the software
system which will enable the safe operation of the eVTOL fleet
and which will lead to the first business cases, which will probably
be in Singapore or Paris. Following the presentation there
was a very interesting panel discussion about the next steps
for the future. Questions came from the virtual visitors of the
Forum from around the globe. If you are interested, please find
the session directly under this link.
.Jean Daniel Sülberg, Head of DLR Cochstedt
Testcenter for UAS/UAM, gave an overview on
the plans of the different DLR institutes in AAM.
He also explained how manufacturers may
use the new DLR Testing facilities to explore
integrated vehicle scenarios.
20 e Flight Journal
4 / 2022