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Vertical Flight Society logo

UPDATE: On April 19, 2018, the American Helicopter Society International, Inc. announced its new brand name as the "Vertical Flight Society," and its new logo. The below text was originally posted Nov. 30, 2017. For more information on the 50-year history of the descriptor "Vertical Flight Society" and the AHS logo through the ages, go to www.vtol.org/hovey.

Over the past several years, the AHS International Board of Directors has continually increased the Society's emphasis on a much broader outreach strategy, embracing professionals worldwide and technologies beyond traditional rotorcraft. Significant changes to the Board and our membership policies were made to attract more members working on vertical flight technology. 

Now the Board is considering whether a change in the name of the Society would better support the new policies and strategy to better attract the wider constituency, and better achieve our vision of being “An international organization that advocates, promotes and supports global vertical flight technology and professional development.”

Survey Result - Net Favorability Score (png)In September 2017, an email survey was conducted of all current AHS members and all past AHS members with email address on file. A total of 623 responses were gathered, with about 95% of them from current AHS members. The results of the survey are posted here.

In addition, the chart on the right summarizes the perspectives on potential names proposed for consideration (click here or on the image for the full-resolution). The survey asked whether a given name would effectively convey the Society's mission; the chart shows the net yes-versus-no responses.

A second survey sent Nov. 30, 2017 asked members' opinions of the most popular option "The Vertical Flight Society" vs. not changing the name to gain additional insights for the Board to consider on this important choice. 

For background discussions on the name and the rationale, please see: