Air taxi passenger comfort assessed in Nasa simulator study

To better understand how passengers may experience future travel by air taxi, Nasa researchers have carried out studies using a vertical motion simulator.

Turbulence can severely affect a passenger’s experience of flying. As turbulence can cause discomfort, anxiety and motion sickness, airlines aim to avoid it as much as possible.

With the possibility of our skies being filled with new types of aircraft in the future, including air taxis, Nasa has been conducting research to evaluate how air taxi motion, vibration and other factors may affect ride comfort.

The future of air taxi transport depends on whether people will actually want to ride these aircraft. These studies have tried to assess what passengers will and will not tolerate.

Nasa has said the data gathered from the research will help guide the design and operational practices of future electric air taxis and drones. 

Curt Hanson, senior flight controls researcher at Nasa’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, said: “The results of...