Demo shows potential of ground stations in supporting eVTOL flights

Honeywell and Frequentis recently conducted a flight test to demonstrate how eVTOL aircraft could operate with a ground control station. In June, the partners flew a T-Drones VA25 drone at Amstetten in Austria, with the operation managed by Honeywell’s new ground control station from its research and development facility in Brno, Czech Republic.

The work is being conducted under the European Sesar Joint Undertaking’s Operate Anywhere (Project OperA) consortium. It is intended to prepare for safe and efficient operations by uncrewed aircraft to prepare for the time when some eVTOL vehicles will not have a pilot on board.

Using a collaborative interface with air traffic control services, the ground control station operator received ATC commands. According to Honeywell, the approach will improve the efficiency of eVTOL operations using real-time data exchanges between the systems on the aircraft and those on the ground.