Civil Tiltrotor for U.S. Commerce

II. Markets studied for commercial use

III. Other markets studied

I. There is a need for an improved national transportation system that would benefit U.S. commerce

National Transportation System Need: Improved Mobility

Studies project large increases in the demand for air travel by the year 2000:

• 74% increase in passenger enplanements in the United States
• 32% increase in the number of jet transports in the United States

Among today's most congested airports are the ten busiest airports in the United States, which together handle a third of all passenger enplanements. Capacity shortfall airports are prime candidates for onsite vertiports.

Yet only three runways will be added to these busiest airports before the turn of the century, and only one new airport is expected to be built (at Denver). The problems are the pervasive consumption of land, environmental impact, opposition to aircraft noise, and cost.

More airplanes will be competing for increasingly scarce runway slots. Passengers will experience delays more often and for longer periods of time. Delays are already a serious problem, especially in the crowded northeast corridor of the United States. Delays at the airport are compounded by worsening delays on roads leading to the airport.

A major contributor to airport congestion is that many people are flying short distances on relatively small aircraft. The commercial tiltrotor aircraft can help reduce airport congestion and traffic delay problems by ---

• Using on-airport vertiports to siphon off short-haul connecting travelers, thereby freeing runways slots for larger aircraft.
• Using off-airport vertiports for urban area to urban area and city center to city center service, diverting travelers away from crowded hub airports and their access roads.
• Allowing passengers to experience portal-to-portal time savings, thereby improving their mobility and efficiency.
• Extending a congested airport's useful life without major investment in air-side facilities.
• Enhancing capacity with tiltrotor aircraft, expected to be environmentally friendly, compared to other means of enhancing capacity.
• Maintaining air service to smaller communities, preserving access and mobility benefits to those communities.

II. Markets studied for commercial use

Corporate/ Executive Transport Market

The corporate/ executive transport market is very large. Over 11,000 aircraft are now in use in this market, about evenly split between fixed-wing turboprops and helicopters.

Several important points about this market need to be stressed. Corporations are very cost-conscious and aware of the importance of making effective use of business aircraft. They also understand that corporations making effective use of business aircraft are more profitable and have higher productivity per employee than those who do not.

Executive security is an increasingly important factor, as well. Cabin pressurization is essential. Speed, efficiency of operation, low maintenance, and mission flexibility are also important attributes of business aircraft.

The small versions of the civil tiltrotor offer benefits on all counts. They are fast, efficient, and flexible. Their VTOL capability offers substantial savings in time at both ends of the flying journey, and their high speed cruise allows them to replace airplanes as well as helicopters.

Executive transport remains the prime mission of business aircraft, but other uses are becoming more important; transport of critical skills and shipping of high-value equipment and information contributes to overall efficient utilization of aircraft.

Resource Development Market

One of the best potential markets for the civil tiltrotor is in support of the resource development market (i.e., resupply of offshore oil and gas platforms). This is currently one of the biggest and most successful markets for larger helicopters, and the civil tiltrotor has substantial economic advantages due to higher cruise speeds and lower operating costs.

Other resource development markets exist: logging, mining support, resource exploration. But the primary market is offshore oil and gas.

The North Sea plateau was chosen as an indicative market. It represents very large petroleum deposits, and the bulk of its platforms are 150 nmi or more offshore, an especially attractive range for the tiltrotor.

The civil tiltrotor's greater convenience and time savings can result in greater revenues per passenger.

In summary, the civil tiltrotor concept is financially viable, provided:

• Its unique advantages are exploited by a fully developed infrastructure (vertiports, surface transport interface, air traffic control).
• Tiltrotors large enough to allow economies of scale -- in operation and in cost to build -- are developed.
• Efforts are continued to provide a vehicle responsive to civil requirements.
• Joint government/ industry efforts to develop a civil tiltrotor transportation system are continued.

III. Other markets studied

High-Density Market. Airlines logged an average of 2000 hour of delays per day in 1986, up 25 percent from 1985. FAA predicts that the number of seriously congested airports will increase from 16 in 1986 to 58 by the year 2000.

Civil tiltrotors could capture one-third to two-thirds of this market. Key to tiltrotor's success is its VTOL ability, perceived as a necessity at one or both ends of each trip. The VTOL capability would allow passengers to begin and end their business trips near home, and to arrive at their metropolitan business destinations.

Market penetration of the civil tiltrotor is dependent on the form of service made available to the commuter i.e. portal-to-portal, through-plane service, or connect-hub service. Another factor will be the number and location of vertiports.

Low-Density Market. The low-density market is difficult to analyze because of the diversity of the market and the lack of specific market data. It is a large market, geographically, consisting of such regions as southeast Asia, Oceania, Alaska, northern Canada, and the Caribbean. The lack of ground infrastructure is one commonality in this market. Opportunities could include tourists, light, high-volume industrial products, and foodstuffs. There is also a potential market in low-density areas for resource development applications.

Public Service Market. In the public service market, the customer is the general public, and the costs are borne by the community. Primary missions includes police and fire department support, medical transport, drug enforcement, Coast Guard search and rescue, and border patrol.

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