A New Kind of Aircraft: FAA Approves Power-Lift

Last updated: 28 October 2024 16:33

An Xpeng X2 VTOL aircraft hovering in front of a building. ©Tim Wu

For decades, the civil aviation industry has consisted of two primary categories: aeroplanes and helicopters. As of Tuesday 22nd October 2024, there is officially a new category: power-lift. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially released its Special Federal Aviation Regulations (SFAR) on integrating powered-lift in the industry. The announcement occurred during the opening session of the NBAA-BACE 2024 aviation convention in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

What is ‘Powered-Lift’?

A Heliexpress Air Taxi with a black rotor and open door. — A Heliexpress air taxi. © Mihail Kutusov

Powered-lift aircraft have vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and hovering abilities like a helicopter. They can also fly at higher airspeeds and altitudes like an airplane. A powered-lift aircraft is a combination of a helicopter and an airplane. The FAA stated that this would be the first new category of aircraft since the introduction of helicopters in the 1940s. Powered-lift aircraft will be used for many services, such as air taxis and rescue and retrieval operations, according to The Verge.

Currently, there are no commercial-powered lift aircraft in the civil aviation industry, but that should hopefully change after this announcement. Several new aviation startups such as Archer and Joby Aviation have already started production of their own line of eVTOL (electric VTOL) aircraft. The official integration of the new category has come at the perfect time for these startups, as they can now have full regulation for their aircraft.

What are the new regulations for powered lift?

The Archer Midnight VTOL aircraft in flight. — An Archer Midnight VTOL aircraft in flight. © Archer.

Introducing a new aircraft category isn’t easy, as new rules and regulations need to be set out for seamless integration. The FAA has set out several new rulings for powered-lift, the main ones being:

Changes will be made to existing regulations and an SFAR with new requirements for pilot training will be made.
Helicopter operating requirements will be added to some phases of flight.
Pilots will be allowed to train with a single set of flight controls.

This new announcement is an exciting advancement for the aviation industry as a whole. What are your thoughts on powered-lift aircraft?

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By Lokesh Jayanetti

Aviation Reporter - A recent graduate of a Upper Second Class Bachelors Degree in Digital Media from the University of Westminster in the summer of 2024, Lokesh's interests lie in writing and travelling, sometimes even a combination of both. Hobbies rotate between reading, photography, writing and gaming, but he spends most of his time travelling and researching places across the globe that he find intriguing.