It was really bad over the Thanksgiving Holiday.
I had to fight Dallas traffic a few times this fall. I’m still shaking.
This is exactly what we need around DFW landing on smaller than a football field length. You could plant a half dozen short strips to lay asphalt right next to existing taxiways and green space on DFW. Looking at the sat images there are at least six 500 meter plus grass areas next too existing taxiways parallel to the north south running triple runways so traffic flow is always in line and parallel never crossings. Love Field could host a single STOL strip just to the south and parallel to 13R/31L. Addison already has FBO ops , so does McKinney..these are the other local GA or executive airports all with FBO ops and could do TSA and point to point STOL and airtaxi to DFW or LOVE.
Dallas Executive Airport (RBD)
Fort Worth Meacham International (FTW)
Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance (AFW)
Arlington Municipal Airport (ARL)
Grand Prairie Airport (GPM)
Fort Worth Spinks Airport (FWS)
Rockwall Airport (RWF)
EVTOL have short range due to the battery only power supplies and they all have a coffin corner twice per flight. STOL aircraft can glide even with zero power.
The real advantage is this STOL is a gas turbine powered hybrid so it has all the power to weight of electric drive units and redundant motors and props but none of the range limitations.
“When it hits the market, it’ll carry a pilot and 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) of cargo, or nine passengers with luggage, distances up to 1,100 nautical miles (1,265 miles, 2,037 km) at a cruise speed around 200 mph (322 km/h).”
“you can use a runway smaller than a soccer pitch. Electra says it’ll operate from airfields as small as 300 x 100 ft (92 x 31 m). That’s one-tenth the size of a standard runway, “
https://newatlas.com/aircraft/electra-estol-9-billion-preorders/
The title is right they have now over 9 billion in pre-orders this STOL fundamentally changes the air transport landscape. It is exactly what FAA NEXTGEN is specifically designed to not only accommodate but optimize.
BRING IT!
Imagine being able to take an uber to a regional or better yet a dedicated STOL grass strip the size of a soccer field and then be taken directly to Austin area again landing on a tiny field right near your destination again uber or better yet a Cybertaxi or Robotaxi takes your directly to the front door. No TSA up the backsides no massive crowds it’s all semi private flights like JSX but better. The only thing better would be a gyrodyne that can do vertical landings and takeoffs from anywhere that has a 8:1 slope obstacle clearance path like a helo but twice as fast and twice the range.
A hybrid powered one of these. 1000+ miles range 200 mph or more and is licenced like a helo so it’s VFR and IFR minimums are way less than GA or type rated jets. Zero zero is possible with a helo not recommended but not illegal as long as the PIC believes it’s safe. Adding in modern synthetic vision with sub meter DGPS and enhanced vision via a HUD using thermal, SWIR, LIDAR, and or millimeter wave imaging and you really do have zero zero ops anywhere all the time even the densest dog is transparent to MMW and with a Cat III DGPS the autoland will put it down on the center stripe or center of the helicopter H in the LZ.
NEXTGEN is going to F’ing rock can’t wait.
https://newatlas.com/aircraft/skyworks-aeronautics-evtol-gyrodyne/