VFS grows to 183 members

VFS grows to 183 members

10-Jan-2023 Source: VFS

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), the world’s leading non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, reports today that the explosive growth of world’s electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — plus significant developments in military and civil rotorcraft — have continued to expand its membership. 

As of Jan. 1, 2023, a total of 183 companies are now members of VFS, a net growth of 20 companies (12%) from a year ago, and 83 companies over the past five years. VFS has nearly 6,400 individual members — a net increase of nearly 6% (350 individuals) since before the COVID-19 pandemic and a 30% growth (1,400 individuals) over the past six years. Much of this growth is due to the extensive support efforts and resources that VFS provides to the vertical flight industry, including technical resources, talent acquisition, professional development, educational opportunities and networking. 

“This past year saw impressive progress towards certification of eVTOL aircraft in the US, Europe and Asia,” said VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. “VFS has been instrumental in bringing the community together and developing broad support for eVTOL developments over the past decade. We are very proud of the progress shown by our corporate members, as well as our members in academia and government agencies around the world.”

This month’s 10th Annual VFS Electric VTOL Symposium — being held Jan. 24–26 in-person in Mesa, Arizona (and also virtually) in conjunction with the Society’s 10th Biennial Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting — is the world’s largest and longest-running event focusing on the incredible promise, progress and challenges of eVTOL aircraft. 

The event features a day of plenary sessions with 16 leaders from industry and government addressing both electric and autonomous VTOL aircraft. Opening government speakers represent the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US Army and US Navy, with industry leaders from Airbus, Boeing, Archer, Joby, Lilium, Near Earth Autonomy, Overair, Textron and Wisk. 

An additional 50 VIP speakers and panelists in the symposium cover important topics regarding eVTOL developments, while some 30 technical papers and presentations on autonomy, drones, Mars helicopters, eVTOL and advanced air mobility (AAM) will be presented. See www.vtol.org/eVTOL2023 for details.

A total of 46 new companies joined VFS during 2022, as listed below. Descriptions of each company, including links to their websites, are found in the VFS Corporate Member Directory. Information on the benefits and rates for corporate membership are posted on the VFS Corporate Membership page.

Company

Membership Class

Advanced Aircraft Company

Small Business

ANDAR Electromechanical Systems

Small Business

Aria Group Inc.

Associate

ASKA

Associate

AURA Network Systems

Copper

AutoFlight Europe GmbH

Associate

Avports LLC

Small Business

Baldwin Safety & Compliance

Associate

Bayards Vertiports

Small Business

Canadian Advanced Air Mobility

Affiliate

Daedalean Inc

Small Business

EHang Intelligent Equipment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.

Small Business

Electro.Aero Pty Ltd

Small Business

Enstrom Helicopter Corporation

Small Business

Eve Air Mobility

Small Business

FirePoint Innovations Center

Associate

Intercomp

Associate

JHNA

Copper

Kitty Hawk Corporation

Small Business

Lockheed Martin Government Affairs

Small Business

LuftCar LLC

Small Business

MAGicALL, Inc.

Small Business

MGI Engineering Ltd

Small Business

MightyFly

Associate

Murzilli Consulting

Associate

Odawara Automation, Inc.

Small Business

Odys Aviation

Small Business

Opener

Copper

OSS Air Management Pvt Ltd

Associate

Point Lighting Corporation

Small Business

Prime Air

Associate

PSSC Labs

Small Business

Qarbon Aerospace

Silver

Ricardo Strategic Consulting

Associate

Roland Berger GmbH

Associate

Shanghai TCab Technology Co., Ltd

Small Business

SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd

Bronze

Technology for Energy Corporation

Associate

The Gilmore Group, LLC

Associate

UAS Center at SBD

Associate

UMILES Next

Small Business

VPorts

Small Business

Windings

Associate

Women & Drones

Associate

Xagon Solutions Inc.

Small Business

ZEVA

Small Business

These new corporate members include companies and associations from around the world who are supporting all aspects of vertical flight. In addition to civil and military rotorcraft developments, such as the US Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, eVTOL developments increased markedly in 2022. 

VFS has been the world’s largest technical community of engineers, technologists and specialists developing vertical flight aircraft for 80 years. A growing number of professionals are entering the vertical flight industry and VFS provides them with numerous opportunities to increase their knowledge and exchange ideas.

VFS has been at the forefront of what it calls the “Electric VTOL Revolution” since 2014 when it held the world’s first meeting of the eVTOL development community. At the time, the idea of electric VTOL aircraft was greeted with widespread skepticism, but growing technical progress, flight demonstrations, government validation and private investment have helped reverse public perception. It is now recognized that the vertical flight market is poised for significant expansion over the next few years as eVTOL aircraft enter service that can have better performance than conventional helicopters for certain missions, as well as lower operating costs and lower noise. 

As of today, the Society has cataloged over 760 different electric VTOL concepts from more than 350 companies and innovators on its authoritative World eVTOL Aircraft Directory at www.evtol.news. When VFS launched the site in April 2017, only a dozen eVTOL programs were under development. Some 170 new designs were added in 2022 alone. The site currently also hosts some 750 eVTOL news stories, including more than 300 in-depth articles from the Society’s Vertiflite magazine, the leading periodical on eVTOL and rotorcraft developments. 

, , ,

Copyright © 2024 HeliHub

Website by Design Inc

Helihub logo

X