A Transportation Department (DOT) contractor this week broke ground on a new Oklahoma City facility that officials say will be a dedicated proving ground for electric and hybrid aircraft technology.
Unlike the various FAA-authorized uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) test sites spread across the country, which study small drones, the agency’s Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Procedures and Analysis Range (V-PAR) is intended for bigger aircraft, such as passenger-carrying air taxis.
Per a fact sheet, construction is scheduled to complete next summer. Neither the fact sheet nor a news release identify any V-PAR tenants or users. But like the UAS test sites, the facility will likely be open to commercial developers of air taxis and other advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft.
According to the FAA, activities at the site will include “coordination with air traffic control and other aircraft.”
One of V-PAR’s stated objectives is to develop standards and procedures for AAM, an area of regulation the FAA has not fully ironed out. The agency in 2024 produced a special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) that created initial pilot training and operational requirements for powered-lift aircraft—including air taxis—for the next 10 years. But permanent guidelines must still be developed.
The establishment of new research and testing capabilities for AAM aircraft is a key tenet of the government’s AAM National Strategy, a blueprint released in December that seeks to position the U.S. as the global leader in the sector.
Steven Bradley, DOT deputy secretary, in a news release called V-PAR a “critical step in helping the FAA better understand how to integrate advanced air mobility aircraft safely into the National Airspace System.”
“As advanced air mobility technologies continue to evolve, the FAA must ensure they meet the same high safety standards expected throughout the National Airspace System,” Chris Rocheleau, FAA deputy administrator, said in a statement. “The V-PAR will help us gather the data and operational insights needed to support their safe integration into the nation’s airspace.”
The facility is being constructed within the FAA’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, its primary training, research, and certification hub. The site houses the FAA Logistics Center, Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, and FAA Academy, where the agency trains air traffic controllers.
Per the fact sheet, V-PAR will be situated on the west end of the campus near Will Rogers International Airport (KOKC), where users could leverage existing radars and other infrastructure.
What V-PAR Will Do
According to the fact sheet, officials began studying the V-PAR concept back in 2021. Congress in 2024 allocated $6 million in funding for the project, and the FAA in March awarded an $8.3 million construction contract. It is unclear where the extra $2.3 million came from.
“By combining real-world flight testing, data analysis, standards development and workforce training on a single campus, V-PAR will support more efficient integration efforts and advance the FAA’s safety management priorities,” the fact sheet reads.
Once complete, V-PAR would give the FAA a central location for flight testing, data analysis, and AAM workforce training.
Researchers will study everything from arrival and departure routes to emergency planning as they simulate the flow of AAM traffic. They will also gauge radiofrequency interference, which can disrupt the digital systems of automated aircraft, and assess the safety of VTOL rotors by analyzing wake separation and downwash and outwash. Per research published in 2024, the FAA found that VTOL models can produce swirling columns of air up to 60 mph from a distance about 100 feet away.
Per the fact sheet and news release, V-PAR will comprise a vertiport, taxiway, apron, covered hangar, electric charging systems, lighting, utilities, and central control facility. In the future it could expand with additional vertipads, charging capabilities, and a short takeoff and landing (STOL) runway.
The FAA is also building a Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies (CAAT) in Texas that will include demonstration zones and test corridors for drones and air taxis. Surf Air Mobility, the first Part 135 operator to join the CAAT, in May said it gives members exclusive access to FAA task orders, working groups, and research.
At the state level, the Suntrax AAM testing ground is taking shape in Florida. Once complete, Suntrax will comprise an approximately one-mile AAM test track—the nation’s first—as well as vertiports, hangars, and charging systems.
Soon, AAM developers will take their aircraft from the sandbox to the real world. The FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) will open the skies in 26 states to precertified aircraft, and manufacturers anticipate flights into airports with real air traffic controllers.
Those activities will span at least three years. Concurrently, V-PAR will give regulators a more controlled environment to refine the technology with the complexity of other traffic.
Updated 3:55 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 26 with additional information from the FAA.
