• 18 Nov 2024 05:13 AM
• 0

ERF Turns 50 in Marseilles

By Angelo Collins, VFS Executive Director
Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2024

The 50th Annual European Rotorcraft Forum (ERF) took place in Marseille, France, with a record 360 in attendance from 19 countries, including 45 from the US. The event was held Sept. 10–12 by the Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (3AF), in cooperation with Airbus and ONERA, the French Aerospace Lab. The venue was the 18th century Palais du Pharo (shown), which was built by Napoleon III and overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.

A total of 159 papers were presented over the three days on topics including aerodynamics, acoustics, dynamics, uncrewed aircraft, manufacturing, urban air mobility, test and evaluation, simulation and training, systems, aircraft design, flight mechanics, human factors, safety and propulsion.

VFS Board Regional Director Arnaud Le Pape (ONERA) served as the ERF 2024 Chair and is the ERF country representative for France. Day 1 opening remarks were made by 3AF Provence Region President Louis Fabre, Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS) President Franco Bernelli, and European Helicopter Association (EHA) Technical Director Oliver Dismore, with keynotes from Airbus Executive Vice President for Engineering Alain De Zotti and Airbus Helicopters Vice President for Research and Innovation Vice President Tomasz Krysinski.

As part of a long-standing agreement, the best technical paper at the VFS Annual Forum — the annual Alfred Gessow Award Winner — is presented at ERF as a plenary talk. Forum 80 best paper award winner Eleni Sotiropoulos-Georgiopoulos presented her paper, “Scenario-Based Helicopter Flight Simulation of Accident-Prone Vortex Ring State (VRS) Encounters,” with the opening keynotes. There, she received the Forum 80 Gessow Award plaque (see photo), presented by VFS Executive Director Angelo Collins, along with ERF Chair Arnaud Le Pape.

Other keynotes were made by officials from ONERA, Safran Helicopter Engines, and the French Air and Space Force. The conference awards dinner was held at the 18th century Fort Ganteaume, and the event was followed by a tour of the nearby Airbus Helicopters headquarters and production plant.

Luca Medici (Leonardo Helicopters), who also serves as the regional vice president of the VFS Board of Directors, will be the 51st ERF Chair and announced that Venice, Italy, will be the location for next years’ ERF, supported by Leonardo.