VertX Aero Prepares To Open Dedicated eVTOL Pilot Training Center

Aviation training group ASG has joined with drone operations support group Avtrain and aerospace investor VectorCap to establish what it says will be Europe’s first approved flight school for eVTOL aircraft pilots. The new VertX Aero venture, which is opening a dedicated training facility in Ireland, estimates that as many as 50,000 eVTOL pilots may be needed by 2030 and aims to start training them by early 2023.

According to the company, it wants to support manufacturers and operators of both piloted eVTOL aircraft and remotely piloted vehicles and also be involved in the development of training standards. It will provide in-person and online training and will handle pilot appraisal and checks and help operators to maintain the requirements of their EASA commercial air operator certificates.

VertX Aero believes it will take another 10 to 15 years before eVTOL urban air mobility services will be provided without a pilot on the aircraft, with either fully autonomous or remotely piloted operations. “These pilots will be required from a safety, compliance, and public safety perspective,” co-founder and head of training Diarmuid O’Riordan told FutureFlight. “An accident in the early days of operation, due to poor training or risk management, could erode consumer confidence to the point where the industry is not viable.”

Dublin-based ASG was founded in 2015 and is an EASA- approved training organization preparing pilots for qualifications up to the level of the air transport pilot license. Avtrain has experience providing training for remotely piloting aircraft.

“Prior to commencing training delivery, we will need to ensure that appropriate regulatory structures are in place in terms of facilitating this,” O’Riordan added. “We intend to work with regulators to assist in the development of syllabi that are consistent with the role of an eVTOL pilot. Current pilot training methodologies require significant adaptation to meet this new paradigm. Assuming the regulatory environment supports it, we intend to commence eVTOL pilot training within the next 24 months.”

VertX Aero’s training facility will feature classrooms and flight simulators incorporating virtual and augmented reality technology. The company says it intends to provide airline-caliber training to eVTOL flight crew and that it is already in discussions with several aircraft developers.

The company acknowledged the Irish government’s encouragement for initiatives to support the advanced air mobility sector, including the new Future Mobility Campus Ireland established as a research and development center in this field. According to O’Riordan, Ireland’s aviation sector now benefits from the fact that the country is the only English-speaking European Union member state, following the UK’s Brexit departure from the EU and also from the EASA jurisdiction.

In November, EASA issued its NPA 2021-12 New Air Mobility notice of proposed amendment document seeking stakeholder comments by Jan. 14, 2022. While this covers requirements for crew licensing for private pilot licenses and non-commercial operations of gyroplanes, VertX Aero co-founder Julie Garland said that the initiative will contribute to the necessary regulatory structure for what she described as “a new era of hybrid helicopter and fixed-wing pilots.”

As it develops its longer-term strategic business plan, VertX Aero envisages that when authorities eventually clear eVTOL aircraft to be operated without a pilot on board they will likely be regulated under rules developed for unmanned aircraft. EASA has yet to define exactly what this expected transition will mean for pilot training, and the company says it intends to be closely involved in the process of developing standards. It is widely expected that in the early stages of commercial eVTOL aircraft operations aviation safety agencies will permit operators to fly under various exemptions from current rules.