Skyportz Presents Solutions to Key Vertiport Issues

Skyportz has released details of how the Australian start-up says its Aeroberm technology will solve vertiport development challenges, such as noise, hazardous downwash and outwash from eVTOL aircraft rotors, and lithium-ion battery fires. At presentations on May 5 to both the Vertical Flight Society Forum in the U.S. and the Rotortech show in Australia, the company released peer-reviewed research based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of how the Aeroberm vertiport structure dissipates energy from rotorcraft.

According to Skyportz CEO Clem Newton-Brown, dangerous ground-level winds from rotor downwash and outwash are a major obstacle to the acceptance of vertiports and eVTOL operations in urban areas. He also maintained that other advanced air mobility infrastructure developers have not adequately addressed concerns around noise in communities and lithium-battery fires, which he says cannot be extinguished by standard firefighting systems.

“The evidence is hiding in plain sight: there are almost no commercial vertiports operating anywhere in the world,” Newton-Brown told AIN. “The industry has been talking about urban air mobility for a decade, and the infrastructure simply hasn’t materialized. That’s not a coincidence.”

Skyportz has patented Aeroberm as what it calls modular surface technology that could be deployed, under license, by multiple vertiport developers for new facilities or to be retrofitted to existing sites. The concept, for which patents are pending, consists of a fractal panel that sits beneath and around the landing surface for eVTOL aircraft.

On the downwash/outwash issue, Skyportz pointed to the FAA’s Engineering Brief 105A, which established a 34.5 mph wind speed safety threshold in areas surrounding eVTOL landing zones. “That standard exists because the problem is real and regulators know current hard-surface designs don’t reliably meet it,” Newton-Brown said. “Every vertiport developer working in an urban setting, [including] rooftops, car parks, and suburban sites, is grappling with how much surrounding land they need to buffer. That land is often what kills the business case.”

Panels Dissipate Energy

CFD modeling conducted by Australia’s Swinburne University using large eddy simulation has shown that Aeroberm’s fractal panel geometry dissipates viscous energy around 90% faster than tarmac surfaces and 30% more efficiently than grated panel alternatives for vertiport structures.

U.S. and European regulators are mandating noise impact assessments as part of the basis for vertiport approval applications. Skyportz referenced research by the UK’s University of Bristol—published in the Journal of Sound and Vibration in 2023—showing that rotors in ground effect can be around 6 dB OASPL louder than rotors in free flight.

Skyportz is now seeking to further quantify Bristol University research suggesting that fractal geometry can reduce both vortex and noise. The company’s presentation to the Vertical Flight Society included evidence of the work by Swinburne University.

The company and its academic partners have used a dunk tank to show how battery thermal runaway fires on a landing pad can be extinguished by water immersion. It supports research maintaining that immersion is the only effective way to deal with these fires.

“You can’t spray your way out of a battery fire. You have to immerse it,” Newton-Brown commented. “Airports and insurers know this. It is an active barrier to insurance coverage and planning approvals for battery-powered aircraft infrastructure.”

According to Newton-Brown, Skyportz is in discussions with multiple partners about distribution and manufacturing of Aeroberm. “Think of it less like a rival product and more like a safety standard embedded in a physical component—the way a seatbelt isn’t a car brand, it’s a requirement across all cars,” he explained.

Newton-Brown told AIN that delays in certifying eVTOL aircraft for commercial service have created a wider window to resolve infrastructure issues. Skyportz is focused on getting Aeroberm accepted by air safety regulators as part of the requirements for vertiports.