The Upside of Dispensing with Downwash
Australian advanced air mobility infrastructure developer Skyportz reveals a new vertipad design.
May 18, 2025 |
While exhibiting at the Avalon International Airshow in Melbourne, Skyportz, the Australian developer of ground-based infrastructure for the impending advanced air mobility (AAM) revolution, revealed its innovative vertipad design which mitigates eVTOL downwash and outwash.
A study conducted by Professor Justin Leontini of the Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology explained that the Skyportz modular vertipad may dissipate energy up to 250% faster than an air taxi landing on a flat tarmac.
The new vertipad design facilitates a smaller footprint according to Skyportz CEO Clem Newton-Brown. “It means that with our vertipad you can safely use less land or fit more pads onto smaller plots,” he explains.
The first iteration of the modelling conducted by Swinburne University experimented with different landing surface treatments described in the patent. Next steps involve adding mechanical devices under and around the vertipad which Skyportz expects will induce a Magnus effect and dissipate energy at an even higher rate while directing flows to desired zones away from waiting passengers.
Top 3 Takeaways
- Skyportz revealed a new patent-pending vertipad design that mitigates downwash and outwash from departing and arriving eVTOLs
- Skyportz design may ameliorate downwash and outwash by up to 250% compared to flat tarmacs.
- Skyportz new design will allow for smaller vertipad footprints requiring less land or allowing for more pads than conventional vertipad design.
Keywords: AAM Today, AAM, advanced air mobility, vertipad, Skyportz, AAM infrastructure, Swinburne University
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