Effect Of The City Center Environment On VTOL Terminal Operations

This paper is a summary report of several studies aimed at the determination of optimum flight paths for V/STOL aircraft operating in a short-haul flight transportation system near city centers. The approach to the problem has been to minimize costs associated with fuel and time, subject to constraints established by considerations of safety, traffic and noise. An optimization was first carried out subject to general constraints on approach angle, velocity and rate of descent. For even the most costly type of VTOL aircraft there is a relatively small increase in fuel cost for steep approaches and departures as opposed to conventional glide slopes and climb angles when realistic constraints on safety are applied to both. Specific constraints were determined by an in-depth study of proposed terminal sites near metropolitan Boston. Practical constraints due to noise and traffic required high angle departures (20°) and curvilinear approaches with steep (15°) glide slopes. Efficient utilization of the terminal airspace and VTOL landing pads will dictate a requirement for 4-dimensional area navigation.