News

Lost in the Noise

• 20 Apr 2023 05:03 AM
• 0

With rules yet to be written, aircraft yet to be tested, and public perceptions yet to be determined, aircraft noise poses complex questions for the makers of advanced air mobility.

eVTOL Leaders Continue Developments

• 29 Mar 2023 04:56 AM
• 0

In the past months, several of the leading electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft companies have made announcements that could be critical to their success in the future.

AAM Infrastructure Developments

• 19 Mar 2023 06:37 AM
• 0

Since 2019, VFS has held a series of regular workshops on infrastructure to support future operations of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles (see www.vtol.org/infrastructure), and has supported the development of initial standards (see “Vertiport Standards Update,” Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2022).

Drone Inspector

• 13 Mar 2023 01:56 PM
• 0

This is sidebar of the main article - Melding Old and New Technology: Impact Testing for Crash Safety

The subject of the Gantry’s future was preceded by Vertiflite’s interest in the use of UAS, not personnel, to inspect various-sized structures.

The Gantry: A Short History

• 13 Mar 2023 01:44 PM
• 0

This is sidebar of the main article - Melding Old and New Technology: Impact Testing for Crash Safety

The LandIR became operational in 1965 as the Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF). Construction had begun in 1963 to model lunar gravity to allow Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and other astronauts selected for Apollo missions to train for the final 150 ft (45 m) before landing on the moon.

Melding Old and New Technology: Impact Testing for Crash Safety

• 13 Mar 2023 12:07 PM
• 0

While NASA ponders the fate of the Gantry, tests continue with this unique historic structure.

The NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has a noteworthy dilemma: to keep and refurbish the Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) facility — typically just called the Gantry — or dismantle the structure that has served as a valuable aircraft and spacecraft testing facility since it was constructed for the Apollo program in the 1960s.

eVTOL at the 10-Year Mark

• 02 Mar 2023 11:10 AM
• 0

The 10th Annual VFS Electric VTOL Symposium brought together more than 500 attendees to assess the current state of the industry.

A Taxonomy of VTOL Aircraft Configuration Types — Part 3: Reinventing the Wheel

• 24 Feb 2023 09:57 PM
• 0

This series addresses terminology that is misleading or erroneous, and proffers definitions to be used as canonical.

Commentary: Lilienthal Was Wrong

• 22 Feb 2023 04:27 PM
• 2

It's often attributed to German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal to have said, “Designing a flying machine is nothing; Building it is something; Testing it is everything."

Alauda Marks eVTOL Racing Milestones

• 02 Feb 2023 08:31 AM
• 0

Alauda Aeronautics, the company behind the Airspeeder electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) racing aircraft, announced on Dec. 1 that it has achieved a new milestone in the development of eVTOL racing.