Urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles will “transform what airplanes look like” within the next five to 10 years, according to Dr. Richard Anderson, the director of the Eagle Flight Research Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “Airplanes are not going to look like they’ve looked for the past 115 years,” he predicted, noting that these new-generation vehicles would replace cars and vans in an urban environment.  

Anderson likened the flood of capital into UAM development to the commercial space race. He sees hybrid-electric propulsion as the most promising power solution for UAMs in the near-term due to their safety and weight advantages over pure battery technology, while artificial intelligence or machine could provide vehicle stability solutions. He said in-city UAM service should be a reality within the decade while city-to-city UAM travel remains a more distant goal. Further, Anderson predicts the vehicles initially would be used for cargo delivery until passengers become more comfortable with the concept of autonomous vehicles and regulations are more flexible and less prescriptive.

Anderson was the advisor for the world’s first piston-gas electric-hybrid aircraft, the Eco Eagle, which was designed by Embry-Riddle students. The university’s Eagle Flight Research Center was established in 1998 and focuses on propulsion, unmanned autonomous vehicles, manned flight control, and certification.