Flying car may fly from a city charging station soon
Beta Technologies is testing its ‘air-taxis’ at the municipal airport.
Flying car developer Beta Technologies may begin flights to and from its new Springfield electric vehicle charging station soon, according to the Air Force colonel who oversees his service’s exploration of the vehicles.
The company has a charging station at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport for electric flying vehicles, also known as “advanced air mobility vehicles” or simply “air taxis.” Ground was broken in December at the airport for what is expected to be an air mobility technology simulator.
Air-worthiness tests on Beta’s vehicles continue and weather has been an issue, said Col. Nathan Diller, director of AFWERX, the Air Force organization nurturing air taxis and other new technologies with private partners.
Vermont-based Beta Technologies, one of the pioneer companies in the field, is having its vehicle go through the Air Force’s “air-worthiness process” now, Diller said.
“The arrival of that Beta aircraft to our location in Springfield will be a function of that air worthiness, but by and large, they’re making fantastic progress on air worthiness, making fantastic progress on their flight testing,” he also said. “They’re looking forward to doing that soon.”
Weather has been a factor, he added.
“There seems to be a lot of snow here in Ohio, so we’ll see if it happens before the snow (melts),” he said.
There are conversations now with the Air Force Research Lab and other about “establishing airspace there,” he added.
“It’s in the civil airspace structure, so it’s something of interest to us,” he said.
Diller spoke in an online meeting Wednesday as part of the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium.
The Springfield airport recently received a $226,000 grant from JobsOhio’s Ohio Site Inventory Program for the infrastructure supporting the flying vehicle effort.
A message with questions was sent to Beta Thursday.