Breecuda is designed to operate form small areas on top of
existing high rises, railway station platforms or bus stations,
not needing a runway because of the ability to take off and land
vertically like a helicopter.
Arriving commuters are security and weight checked, and enter
the waiting area; this will be a similar process to going
through ticket checking machines, except passengers will be
X-rayed and brief cases checked. Additional security measures
may be taken depending upon the location or should a passenger
be going to an airport with baggage. A percentage of seats may
be pre-booked due to the limited amount of seats. Commuters
would have to provide identification when buying the ticket,
which would be checked automatically every flight.
Only
the exact number of passengers allowable onto an arriving TC can
enter the platform. This number is based upon that aircrafts
current capacity and those disembarking at that stop, as all TC
passengers must be seated. If a pre-booked commuter was late, a
stand-by system would be in place for people otherwise having to
wait for the next service avoiding overload of the aircraft.
Departure is set by the security gate closing rather than
aircraft movements.
The
terminals differ slightly from railway stations. When landing,
TC is designed to slot into catchment slides to assist docking
making a faster, safer landing procedure at a stage where
fuel-flow is highest, with the engines at high power settings.
Fuel probes connect to the jet once it has landed if endurance
has overly taxed the fuel supply of the aircraft. In order to
allow a VTOL jet to land the platform is raised to allow exhaust
gases to be vented out underneath the platform without affecting
the performance of the aircraft.
Primarily for jet blast and noise aspects, passengers waiting to
get aboard a TC flight are shielded by a door between the
platform and the aircraft kept in place until the aircraft is
safely down and at idle power settings. The top and bottom of
the platform - a rubber seal - merges into the side of the
Breecuda to provide as much noise insulation as possible, with
an automatic system to ensure safe alignment of the doors to the
platform. The door then opens simultaneously with the TC door,
allowing passenger stop disembark. Once they are clear,
passengers are allowed to board, similar to a train. It is hoped
passengers will have a harness restraint similar to those found
on roller-coasters, permitting easier entry and exit and safe
restraint in flight: all passengers are restrained
automatically. TC is designed with one large door that covers
the entire side of the aircraft, enabling people to alight
within a minute, and climb aboard very quickly. Both doors close
and Breecuda climbs out.
These
stations can be built vertically so that many TC’s can dock in a
very small area, reducing the cost of locating the system.
Special operational procedures apply to such a design, for
example 2 aircraft could not dock/launch one over another, as
the aircraft underneath would be in the jet wash of the other.