Experimental eVTOL innovation

[dapug]

I am looking for definitive answers on this. I have contacted the FAA and EAA with no response. I have also posted on social media to no avail. I'm posting this here in case anyone can answer or connect me to the right people to get a real answer on this...

TL/DR;

How do experimental builders and aviators get involved in eVTOL? Surely this is not reserved only for “taxi” services and commercial interest. What regulations allow for this today, versus future needed regulations?

Full detail:

With all the buzz about VTOL and eVTOL this past year, and the focus primarily being on the concept of “taxi” service (Cora.aero, Uber Elevate, etc), executive/business travel (Eviation, etc), and autonomous transport for non-pilots (Blackfly), it leaves me wondering... what about the rest of GA? What about the Experimental crowd?

There seems to be a huge gap right now in eVTOL, leaving hobbyists and experimental builders completely in the dust.

Perspective setting:

As I see it, there are distinct scenarios where eVTOL is applicable, and not all scenarios require new regulations and complex technologies (such as collision avoidance, autonomy, managing safety in densely populated areas, etc).

EAA members are mostly pilots. We are not trying to solve the need for taxi service in densely populated areas. We are happy to follow the current regulations already in place, and fly and land in the same places that gyro, STOL planes, and helicopters currently fly and land in. We therefore do NOT need complex collision avoidance or autonomy (highly complex, expensive, and time consuming to perfect) nor all the new regulations that obviously are needed there. That will indeed take time, and deep pockets with industry/commercial interests. But for experimental GA aviators and hobbyists, it means our only hurdle is simply the computerized multirotor stabilization; technology that is feasibly within reach.

With that in mind, it opens the following questions:

1. If I were to build a multi-rotor aircraft today and register it as EAB, what type would it be registered as? It's not a gyro, fixed wing, or even a helicopter or dual-rotor helicopter. It's flight systems and characteristics are entirely different.
2. If I were to fly an experimental multi-rotor aircraft today, what type rating or endorsement would I need to fly it? Bearing in mind, it does not fly nor handle like a helicopter, the stabilization of which is computer controlled, so the kinds of training and regulation there don't seem to apply.

I see no reason why a hobbyist or community of home builders today cannot do the following:

• Design an aircraft capable of VTOL
• Fly the aircraft as a certified pilot without the complexity of autonomy or new regulations for non-pilots
• Take off, land and fly in the same places and airspace as currently already in place, as already regulated

One might say that RC multi-rotor controllers are not suitable for manned flight. To which I would say I agree, but it sure sets the stage doesn't it? Those RC controllers were built as OPEN SOURCE projects, the community and citizenry literally brought this to the world and to the hobby, and arguably laid the foundation to inspire all those companies we now see applying the concepts to GA and manned eVTOL aircraft. As for the Experimental Aircraft hobbyists, I see no reason why these electronic multi-rotor controllers cannot continue to innovate as a community project with new goals in mind, such as redundancy and safety for manned flight. This is what I mean when I say eVTOL is "within reach" of experimental aircraft builders, not just deep pocketed commercial ventures.

I would love to connect with the right people at EAA or FAA that are knowledgeable on topic and can provide insight.

Experimental innovations in this area are completely stifled if we (the builders and pilots) do not know how our efforts (of building something with the intent to fly) will be allowed and governed in the end.