The Vertipad That Could Unground Urban Air Travel

Aeroberm's modular vertipad uses fractal geometry to solve the outwash, fire, and noise barriers blocking US vertiport development 

13 May 2026

Urban air taxis are nearing regulatory approval in the United States. Ground infrastructure to receive them is not.

Aeroberm, a subsidiary of Australian infrastructure developer Skyportz, launched a modular landing pad system on May 5 designed to address the safety and space constraints that have blocked commercial vertiport development in American cities. Three distinct problems are targeted: wind disturbance from rotors, fire risk from aircraft batteries, and noise at street level.

Steel platforms fitted with panels shaped using fractal geometry sit at the core of the system. Fractal patterns repeat at every scale; here, they intercept rotor airflow of varying sizes during take-off and landing, directing energy downward rather than outward. Research from Swinburne University found dissipation rates up to 90 per cent higher than conventional surfaces, reducing the buffer area required to meet the Federal Aviation Administration's outwash limit of 34.5 miles per hour under Engineering Brief 105A.

Buffer zone requirements under existing rules have rendered most urban sites impractical for vertiports.

Integrated into the same platform are acoustic panels to scatter pressure waves and a battery immersion system capable of fully submerging an aircraft. Immersion addresses lithium-ion thermal runaway, a type of fire that conventional methods cannot reliably suppress. Insurance underwriter Advanced Technology Assurance has signed on as an early partner, a development that could help unblock project approvals currently stalled on risk assessments.

Offered at no charge to participants in the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, a three-year, 26-state initiative now beginning operations, the technology enters a market with no commercial vertiport yet open. Enter Ave of Tallahassee, Florida, is Aeroberm's first confirmed US commercial partner. Skyportz has identified New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami as expansion targets.

Demonstrating outwash performance at commercial scale remains the central test ahead. Pending FAA Advisory Circular 150/5390-2E may also alter the compliance standards any landing pad must meet.