UAM Demonstration Carried Out at Gimpo Airport
An air taxi is tested at Gimpo Airport.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted an urban air mobility (UAM) demonstration at Gimpo Airport on Nov. 11. The Flight demonstration was conducted with a two-seater multicopter developed abroad, and various aerial vehicles developed at home and abroad were exhibited at the airport.
A vehicle that is being developed by South Korea was demonstrated, too. It is a downsized version of the optionally piloted personal air vehicle (OPPAV) South Korea is working on. The version with a wingspan of 3.1 meters, which is 44 percent of the actual wingspan, was demonstrated with flight control technologies developed so far. The demonstration was carried out at a remote flight test site of the government and the scene was aired at the airport. The maximum speed of the downsized version is 130 km/h and its maximum flight coverage is 10 km.
The OPPAV employs technologies of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, which developed the world’s second plane tilting system behind the United States. The life-size vehicle is scheduled to be completed and tested next year. The project will be completed in 2023 and the outcome of the project is expected to lead to the development of five-seater UAM vehicles.
The ministry tested UAM services during the flight demonstration. Specifically, the services include boarding reservation, security check, takeoff and landing approval, transfer, traffic management, etc. UAM operators, traffic management service providers and vertiport operators were assumed in the test.
In addition, a mobile application was tested along with the processes. The application is to provide an automated transfer service based on boarding time and destination input and provide a car for a UAM passenger so that his or her destination can be reached without delay.
Also tested was the government’s global aviation information management system. During the demonstration, flight information was linked to the system for comprehensive monitoring and the system showed every essential aviation information while providing communication between pilots and the ground control.
The ministry also exhibited real-time visual monitoring for UAM traffic management, simulation programs for UAM traffic prediction, and vertiport lighting equipment for safe landing. The South Korean government is planning to launch a four-year project next year in order to develop a UAM monitoring information acquisition system. The total budget investment in the project is 45.8 billion won.