Advanced Air Mobility in Ohio
Pat & Dennis Bender Experimental Aircraft Development Fund
J. Dennis Bender
Office, Home & Cell Phone: 859-391-5226
5726 La Jolla Blvd. – Suite 311
La Jolla, CA 92037-7345
&
Office - 100 Riverside Pl. - Suite 303
Covington, KY 41011-5711
We support experimental-aircraft development and applications for EMS, under-served-rural-communities, native-Americans, border-patrol, forestry-management, educational purposes, etc. (After initially incorporating in KY to form a single 501(c)(3), we dissolved that entity for a simplified form creating two entirely self-financed, private-philanthropies. A Vanguard National Trust account has been setup foreach making annual-grants for specific experimental-aviation-related projects in conjunction with the Experimental Aircraft Assoc. Foundation [EAA] in Oshkosh, WI., the eVTOL organization, San Diego Air & Space Museum and similar organizations. David J. Bender is my Estate Rep.
www.JDBender.com – Pat & Dennis Bender eVTOL Experimental Aviation Fund (Vanguard National Trust)
www.JDBender.org – Pat & Dennis Bender Dementia Diagnosis Fund (Vanguard National Trust)
November 5, 2023
“Ohio is the only state with a statewide strategy for AAM flights and integration within urban centers and rural communities. Ohio has established a corridor for autonomous-flight-testing-and-planning with the goal of connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and beyond.”
One of the primary reasons for my retaining my condo-office here in Covington, KY, a decade after purchasing my permanent retirement home in La Jolla, are the many still on-going eVTOL projects that I have been participating in that were or are now located in this part of the US. A great example is my current work with RYSE-Recon, here in Mason, OH and their hybrid-eVTOL project previously located at Lunken Airport that I had initially invested a great deal of my time and effort in prior to its being sold to another organization in New England and being moved away from here to a new location.
Here is some detailed background information on Ohio’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) efforts that I have been following closely since 2013, regularly visiting and reporting on from the Ohio eVTOL-test-range located at nearby Springfield-Beckley airport, with a great new facility that is now under construction, that I recently featured in my last report on those activities.
Ohio has 85 county-airports that are greatly-under-utilized, from my own observations over the decades while living here in Ohio, living on the west coast in La Jolla, and in all of the small communities between that I drive through twice a year commuting between my home in La Jolla and my condo-office here in Covington, KY.
The eVTOL development is currently focused on market-opportunities in large-urban-centers, such as in San Diego County. These folks and I believe that there is an additional opportunity in these rural-county-airport locations, as discussed in this podcast, such as here at the Springfield-Beckley airport that I have been closely following with regular visits for the past decade, while pursuing that initial hybrid-eVTOL project at Lunken that began with a meeting at EAA’s annual Oshkosh convention that I attended for 48 past weeks and now attend the eVTOL annual get together the weekend before.
This pair of commentators podcast discusses Ohio's first steps in the eVTOL industry and its projects, as well as future developments. They also talk about the importance of Springfield-Berkeley Airport and the impact of Ohio being the first US State to publish an “AAM Framework,” that I’ve been reporting on for a number of years now. They really need to do a much better job of communicating and promoting all of this as it has received little attention here in southwestern-Ohio.
Even up at Springfield-Berkeley Airport that I visit every few weeks over the past few years, no one in the area seems to know much of anything about this development nor the great new center there that is about to open. There is not even any information about it at that new site, nor much publicity here in the Cincinnati/Covington area, nor in the eVTOL literature that I monitor daily. At least I now have these two points-of-contact to follow-up-on and this informative podcast to share with y’all.
- Traffic management system is key
- Sky Vision system – Wright Patterson AFB need
- Unrestricted airspace operations
- Advanced air mobility
- Community needs, infrastructure and attitudes
- Route-33-Corridor infrastructure is now in place for advanced healthcare applications
- Smart-33-Corridor
- Small rural airport airspace management
- Build, test & fly opportunities
- Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Center under construction at the Springfield-Beckley airport (that I’ve photographed and been reporting on continuously) – “Opportunity to fly here”
- Demonstrate with Sky Vision opportunities to demonstrate capabilities
- Healthcare opportunities with 14 centers in the Ohio area
- Hospital supply deliveries focus and use-case
- Blood-center opportunities
- Community-integration and feedback to NASA
- 2019 Ohio AAM framework from Crown Consulting finished
- Cincinnati & Cleveland I-71 corridor 3-5-year package-delivery
- People-movers following this for rural-areas and uncontrolled-airports that I’ve been focused on too, such as my project at Gillespie Field in S.D. that is now going-on
- Regional air-mobility projects for local-areas and rural-areas, use-cases, needs, etc.
- Industry adoption and community engagement
- Wright-Patterson proximity important for location decision now at Springfield-Beckley (SB) airport
- Elevated charging-station that I’ve photographed and reported on continuously for a few years now
- This rural-Ohio area ideal
- CRADA(?) procedure for operations in the Springfield-Beckley area
- Workforce-of-the-future needs related to AAM
- How to apply this new technology
- Next-generation that will be flying these eVTOLs (Also one of my own project areas in S.D.)
- Engage students in this are
- See: UASOhio.gov & Drive.Ohio.Gov
- Ohio State U. Nat. & Advanced Air Forum (that I’ve already reported on)
In this episode, Tim and Richard talk about their respective roles within the State of Ohio and how they are helping the region embrace the growing Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market.
Blog
Ohio Flying High in Advanced Air Mobility
March 30, 2023 - https://www.jobsohio.com/blog/ohio-flying-high-in-advanced-air-mobility
A new revolution in aviation and transportation has taken off across the county, and Ohio is leading the way. Leaning on a rich legacy of aviation expertise and a commitment to future-forward innovation, the advanced air mobility (AAM) market has found a home in the Buckeye State.
I had the pleasure of talking about the electric-vehicle-take-off-and-landing (eVTOL) industry with Rich Fox, Director for the DriveOhio Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Center, on a recent episode of the eVTOL Insights podcast hosted by Jason Pritchard, the podcast’s Executive Editor. Click here to view: https://soundcloud.com/user-308909726/episode-90-tim-sweeney-and-richard-fox-jobsohio-and-ohio-department-of-transportation .
Rich, Jason, and I covered a wide range of topics related to AAM, but we really focused on what makes Ohio the ideal place for eVTOL companies to build, test, and fly.
Working with DriveOhio as part of the Ohio Department of Transportation, JobsOhio is advancing the collective strategy for AAM flights and a pathway for integration. In fact, Ohio is the only state with a statewide strategy for AAM flights and integration within urban centers and rural communities. As we discussed on the podcast, Ohio has established a corridor for autonomous flight testing and planning with the goal of connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and beyond.
Very simply, we’re enabling the AAM industry for incredible success in Ohio.
So, what sets Ohio apart from other states?
- Proximity – Ohio’s eVTOL-test-range at Springfield-Beckley airport is adjacent to Wright Patterson AFB, AFRL, and Agility Prime program office and supports commercial flights.
- SkyVision Detect & Avoid and FAA Certificate of Authorization (COA) enable piloted and unpiloted test flights and eVTOLs companies to fly beyond visual line-of-site (BVLOS).
- Ohio is the first State to establish the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence.
- The NASA National Campaign positions Ohio as the only State focused on AAM state-wide adoption in urban and rural areas with flights along major interstate corridor (I-71)
- Ohio is working with AAM stakeholders across Ohio (metropolitan planners, healthcare, industry, economic development, airports, and technology companies) to address community integration and AAM market-development.
- Ohio has a successful collaborative partnership among ODOT, JobsOhio, local economic development partners, Ohio hospitals and metropolitan planning organizations that is driving our strategy and execution.
- ODOT has established the Vertiport Challenge to connect students at Ohio universities/colleges on real-life applications and identifying opportunities in the marketplace
As you can see, stakeholders from across Ohio are serious about our commitment to AAM and the market opportunity it creates. Ohio’s AAM market is estimated at $13-billion in the areas of healthcare, emergency-response, cargo-delivery, and passenger-taxi. The Ohio AAM-market is projected to create 15,000 jobs by 2045 and establish 81 vertiports (take-off and landing locations) in Ohio*.
Build, Test, and Fly – Ohio has the infrastructure, the rich pool of technical talent, the business-friendly environment, and the overall will to help AAM companies reach new heights in the future of aviation and transportation.
Want to learn more? Reach out to me. I’m happy to talk all things AAM in Ohio.
Tim Sweeney, Director of Advanced Manufacturing & Aerospace, JobsOhio -
* Reference: Crown Consulting, NEXA Capital Partners, University of Cincinnati Economic Impact study.
Tags: Aerospace & Aviation
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