Sustainable air taxis for the Paris Olympics

at Paris Olympics in air taxi. According to the magazine Future Flighti Olympic Games of 2024 may be eligible for transportation via vehicles eVol, which will allow movement between the various event sites across the French capital. This is the objective of the 30 partners of Re.Invent Air Mobility Challenge. For the launch of the programme, whose purpose is precisely to promote the new mode of air travel, the flights must be visible but without making too much noise. Given the negative public perception of aircraft roar, the noise emitted by eVTOL air taxis will therefore be monitored very closely.

Noise reduction

The need for silent operation led a team of engineers to Volocopter at the Paris airport Pontoise-Cormeilles-en-Vexin, about 22 miles northwest of the city. The trials were conducted using a demonstrator aircraft with VC2X technology. Slightly smaller than VoloCity model two-seater, the 2X uses a configuration practically similar to that of the VoloCity, made up of 18 motor/rotor units, each of which produces decibels in quantity. However, says Volocopter’s head of flight physics Ulrich Schäferleinhas a lower frequency band which makes the generated noise “more comfortable”.

Trials and measures

Measurement tests have shown that the eVTol Volocopter Type 2X (also known as VC200-2) is 10dB quieter when climbing than the similarly sized Robinson R22 piston helicopter. The noise difference between the two aircraft increases to 17 dB when the 2X hovers in the air at an altitude of 75 meters. Volocopter estimates that, once in service, the VoloCity will emit only 25% less noise compared to the largest helicopter used for passenger flights, the Bell 407, used for sightseeing over New York. Which should leave theIcao about the excessive noise pollution generated by aviation (but bearing in mind that the thresholds may vary from location to location).

The Parisian laboratory

In Paris, the public transport company Ratp appears particularly interested in eVTol aircraft. Very sensitive to the issue of noise, Ratp is involved in the tests currently underway at Pontoise airport in view of the 2024 Olympics. Joran Le Nabat, acoustic engineer, is preparing a series of sound maps with his team around specific potential routes across the city and to possible vertiport sites. One such site is the Gare d’Austerlitz railway station, on the east side of the city, where Ratp is exploring the potential of eVTOL flights to carry passengers to other interchanges. But the challenge to traditional mobility proposed by air taxis is not just a matter of decibels. The conquest of customers also passes through the safety of the flight, i costs related and contribution to the progress of smart city in general. Also Skyportsone of the partners of Re.Invent Air Mobility, plans, again in Pontoise, a vertiport linking Charles de Gaulle airport and Le Bourget airport, which will host the Olympic media enclave, as well as with the main Olympic village and at least other three vertiports around the metropolitan area.