FLYING Magazine
Hollister Municipal Airport (KCVH) in California could be among the first in the nation to receive a vertiport for autonomous and eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.
Autonomous air taxi developer Wisk Aero, which Boeing earlier this month agreed to sell to eVTOL manufacturer Archer Aviation, said Wednesday that it broke ground on the vertiport at Hollister, where the company already conducts flight testing. Wisk said the new 100-feet-by-100-feet site will be a “dedicated testbed” for both piloted and unpiloted operations, becoming “one of the first public airport vertiports” designed for that purpose.
Wisk said it will install proprietary transceivers on the vertiport pad in order to prove out the precision landing technologies of its Generation 6 aircraft, which began uncrewed flight testing in December. The transceivers are designed to improve VTOL operations in reduced or zero visibility, including for rotorcraft and other air taxis.
The testing will include operations under nominal conditions, missed approaches, and GPS-denied environments. Wisk said “initial surrogate flights” at the vertiport and later autonomy testing will prepare the Gen 6 for commercial service.
“By testing autonomous and piloted operations on an actual public airport, we are bridging the gap between advanced aircraft development and real-world infrastructure,” said Annie Cheng, senior program manager for operational integration and testing for Wisk, in a statement. “The data and operational learnings generated here will directly feed into our autonomy stack.”
Vertiports are being developed in other locations nationwide. Archer is working toward construction of an off-airport vertiport in downtown Los Angeles, which it hopes to use for air taxi service at the 2028 Olympic Games. Competitor Joby Aviation has teamed with the former CEO of Uber to build a nationwide vertiport network.
Unlike the Gen 6, Archer and Joby’s air taxis are designed to be piloted when they enter service. The FAA does not yet have vertiport standards for autonomous aircraft. However, Cheng said Wisk’s planned testing could help shape the agency’s requirements for future vertiport design.
H2: Wisk’s Vertiport Blueprint
The FAA classifies vertiports as a type of heliport for aircraft with three or more propulsors rather than single, tandem, or dual rotors. That includes eVTOL models being certified as powered-lift or special class rotorcraft.
So far, though, the agency has produced only prescriptive, nonlegally binding guidance in the form of its Engineering Brief (EB) 105A. The brief provides recommendations for establishing an acceptable level of safety and performance, including when modifying existing landing sites. But the goal is to replace EB 105A with a performance-based advisory circular (AC) in the future.
Wisk said it plans to evaluate terminal area flight procedures and collect real-world operational data that could inform a future Vertical Lift Infrastructure AC. It added that the data will “feed directly” into initiatives such as the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), a series of real-world activities with precertified aircraft under agency oversight. The eIPP began in July with medical flights in Maryland and Virginia and has since expanded to other states.
Wisk and its Gen 6 are expected to begin eIPP activities in the near future. The company said its Hollister vertiport will produce a “relocatable template” that could see similar infrastructure deployed in Texas and other states where it plans to fly.
Wisk’s construction of a vertiport and subsequent testing could help the FAA determine what future vertiports may look like.
Wisk said it designed the California site in accordance with EB 105A, for which conformity is voluntary. The manufacturer described the site as “modular” and said it includes elevated steel structures, solar panels, power banks, and taxiway connectors.
The FAA considers vertiports distinct from GA heliports because of their specific requirements, such as larger boundaries due to the additional propulsors and their size and distribution. VTOL air taxis such as the Gen 6 typically spread these across a fixed wing rather than concentrating them centrally. Many models feature rotors or propellers that tilt to support both vertical and forward flight.
In the future, vertiport boundaries could shrink if manufacturers demonstrate landing accuracy similar to a helicopter’s during the certification process. But that is unlikely to happen until the FAA finalizes its Vertical Lift Infrastructure AC.
Wisk’s testing at Hollister could accelerate that process. The FAA continues to collect operational VTOL data, which per EB 105A remains “limited.” The data could enable a shift from prescriptive vertiport guidance—using a reference aircraft that incorporates aspects of real models being developed—to performance-based regulations.
The FAA describes EB 105A as a “living document” that will be supplanted by the AC once enough data is collected. In the future, standards could cover operations of autonomous aircraft like the Gen 6, as well as those under IMC or at higher frequencies.