News

eVTOL Short Course VOD

• 31 Mar 2019 12:27 PM
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A new short course on eVTOL Design has been added to the VFS video-on-demand educational series:

• Electric VTOL Design Short Course, Jan 2019: This 7-hour course, taught by renowned eVTOL designer Dr. James Wang, provides an overview of the unique design challenges and opportunities of this new class of vehicles. Both electric and hybrid-electric passenger-carrying vertical flight aircraft are covered for a variety of missions ranging from personal/private use to urban air taxis to regional electric VTOL bizjets. Download the course description for this insightful course.

The Electric VTOL News eNewsletter

• 15 Mar 2019 12:16 PM
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The Electric VTOL News™ eNewsletter started in 2016 as a means to inform the attendees of the VFS Transformative Vertical Flight Workshops and interested parties of news in the eVTOL world. Since then, it has grown to be a regular report on eVTOL aircraft, progress and developments. Since April 2017, it has also highlighted new aircraft in the World eVTOL Aircraft Directory and other resources on the eVTOL.news website.

The eVTOL Industry in Transition

• 24 Feb 2019 09:55 AM
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In the five years since the Vertical Flight Society hosted its first “Transformative Vertical Flight Concepts Joint Workshop on Enabling New Flight Concepts through Novel Propulsion and Energy Architectures,” electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft have evolved from a wide-eyed futuristic concept into an emerging business within the global aerospace industry.

VFS Panel on eVTOL at Heli-Expo 2019

• 13 Feb 2019 04:54 PM
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On Wed. morning, March 6, 2019, the Vertical Flight Society is hosting a special two-hour panel at the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Heli-Expo trade show at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Room B310. Moderated by acclaimed journalist Elan Head of Vertical Magazine, our second annual "Electric VTOL Revolution" panel features leaders in the helicopter industry discussing how electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are poised to revolutionize vertical flight — and perhaps society as a whole.

VFS at CES2019

• 15 Jan 2019 02:58 PM
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The Vertical Flight Society was actively engaged in the CES 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Jan. 8–11, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. See below for panel reports, photos and a consolidation of news on the Bell Nexus air taxi.

Bell Reveals Nexus Air Taxi

• 07 Jan 2019 02:44 PM
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Fairfax, Virginia, USA — The Vertical Flight Society, the world’s leading non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, salutes the unveiling of the Bell Nexus hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft today at CES 2019, the world's largest consumer technology show.

What Else to Do with an Army of Interns

• 02 Jan 2019 12:24 PM
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During my ten-week NASA Aeromechanics Branch internship, I focused on what is considered by some as the most ambitious and ground-breaking new market of the modern aviation industry: urban air mobility (UAM). Even before The Jetsons’ first appearance on TV in the early 1960s, the world has hungered for a possible future of commuting to work by sky. Yet, what started out as a fantasy has slowly turned into an increasingly urgent need.

Boeing and SparkCognition Launch SkyGrid

• 02 Jan 2019 10:16 AM
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Boeing and SparkCognition announced plans in November to launch a joint venture, SkyGrid, which will develop a software platform to ensure the safe, secure integration of autonomous cargo and passenger air vehicles in the global airspace. Using blockchain technology, artificial intelligence-enabled dynamic traffic routing, data analytics and cybersecurity features, SkyGrid's platform will go beyond unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) traffic management (UTM). 

Fantastic eVTOL Forecasts

• 02 Jan 2019 10:14 AM
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In November, Roland Berger, a strategy consulting firm headquartered in Munich, Germany, released a study dubbed, “Urban air mobility — The rise of a new mode of transportation.” In it, the company noted that “pilot projects are already scheduled to go live in cities like Dubai, Singapore, Los Angeles and Dallas in the early 2020s,” and predicted about 3,000 passenger drones would be in use by 2025, followed by exponential growth; Roland Berger forecast that, by 2050, “close to 100,000 passenger drones could be on the move worldwide and serve as air taxis, airport shuttles and intercity flight services.”

Bell Broadens its eVTOL Team

• 02 Jan 2019 10:11 AM
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Bell announced new membership in its eVTOL air taxi development team. In addition to various companies revealed over the past several months — including Garmin, Honeywell and Safran — the Ft. Worth, Texas, company announced that Thales, Electric Power Systems (EPS) and Moog would also join its team.