Learn about current and upcoming webinars or check out all of our videos on the VFS Video Library page!
The Vertical Flight Society has been hosting virtual technical sessions, workshops, presentations and interviews on timely and relevant topics in VTOL and eVTOL. These webinars were hosted either by VFS headquarters or by our chapters around the world.
These programs provide important information to help the community continue advancing vertical flight.
| Thu., May 6: Raising $tartup Capital: eVTOL Financing 101 - Lesson 2 1200-1300 EDT/1100-1200 CDT/0900-1000 PDT/1600-1700 UTC Lecturers: Michael Dyment, NEXA Capital Van Espahbodi, Starburst  The Vertical Flight Society is starting a new series of regular webinars to educate our members on avenues for startup funding. "Raising $tartup Capital" is intended to provide an introduction for our member companies on the different pathways for raising capital.
A. The Advanced Air Mobility Start-up Landscape (Dyment/NEXA)
a. The Four Supply Chains and Why They are all Important Considerations When Start-Up Capital is Sought
b. Case Study: An Example of Capital Formation Success
c. Start-Up Capital Best Practices (from an IB and VC perspective)
B. Starburst Accelerator (Espabodi/Starburst)
a. Preparing Startups for Series A
b. Venture Funding and Pitch Days
c. Startups and Leveraging Corporates
We want to help our small business members with innovative ideas be as efficient as possible in their efforts to find funding, and reduce the number of blind alleys that only waste time and effort. A lot of money is being invested in eVTOL/advanced air mobility and a majority of our member companies are active in this space, so these webinars will be focused primarily (but not exclusively) on eVTOL/AAM.
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| Wed., Apr. 28: Robotic Exploration of Titan with Dragonfly, a Multi-rotor Relocatable Lander, presented by the VFS Stratford Chapter 1800-1930 EDT/1700-1830 CDT/1500-1630 PDT/2300-0030 UTC Lecturers: Douglas S. Adams, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab  Dragonfly will send a radioisotope-powered rotorcraft lander to the surface of Titan to study the composition of a wide variety of surface sites, and to complete the first comprehensive in situ study of Titan’s chemical diversity and complexity. This presentation will discuss the trades considered and the choices that were made during the concept development of Dragonfly, which started from a clean sheet of paper and matured into the winner of the New Frontiers 4 competition. Early modifications that are either under consideration or have already been made in the preliminary design phase will also be discussed, along with a description of the technology and concept of operations that enable the mission.
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| Fri., April 23: VFS Hampton Roads Chapter Virtual Luncheon 1200 EDT/1100 CDT/0900 PDT/1600 UTC Speaker: Ms. Susan Gorton, NASA  The presentation will provide an overview of NASA's new Advanced Air Mobility Mission with particular emphasis on research for eVTOL vehicle technologies and will include an update on the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. |
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| Fri., April 23: Recent Vertical Lift Research at the National Research Council of Canada, presented by the VFS Montreal Chapter 1130 EDT/1030 CDT/0830 PDT/15300 UTC  Agenda: Intro to NRC, IAM & Canadian Vertical Lift Autonomy Demonstration research – Mr. Derek Gowanlock, NRC-Canada Rotorcraft Flight Sim Model Fidelity Improvement – Bill Gubbels, NRC-Canada In-flight Physiological Monitoring of Pilot Workload – Dr. Andrew Law, NRC-Canada Drone Impact Testing – Dr. Azzedine Dadouche, NRC-Canada For over 60 years the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada’s Aerospace Research Centre has conducted a broad variety of helicopter and more broadly vertical flight focused research. Structural, manufacturing, flight controls, and aerodynamic improvements have all been focus areas for the research at the NRC. In this presentation four of the Aerospace Research Centre’s researchers and engineers will present the NRC’s Integrated Aerial Mobility (IAM) research program and several current research projects, including flight autonomy, rotorcraft simulator model fidelity improvements, in-flight physiological monitoring of pilot workload, recent testing of drone impact on aircraft structure. |
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| Thu., April 22: US Army Aviation Policy for Advanced Manufactured Aircraft Parts, presented by the VFS Philadelphia, Arizona and Redstone Chapters 1900-2000 EDT/1800-1900 CDT/1600-1700 PDT/2300-0000 UTC Moderator: Ed Martin, US Army Speaker: Mark Ratliff, US Army  Aviation parts, components and support products are crucial to maintain readiness on a global scale. The utilization of Advanced Manufacturing (AdvM) techniques provides an excellent opportunity to supplement the supply line to ultimately help improve readiness. The US Army mission for airworthiness related to AdvM is to ensure that the parts, components and support products made utilizing AdvM have sufficient information and process controls in place so that the components will operate effectively to support the attaining, sustaining and completion of flight. This policy provides users, commanders and US Army aviation enterprise stakeholders with the processes related to the categorization and types of supporting data necessary for airworthiness approval. The policy also provides the appropriate path to initiate an airworthiness assessment for these parts, components and support products. |
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| Thu., April 8: Raising $tartup Capital: eVTOL Financing 101 - Lesson 1 1200-1300 EDT/1100-1200 CDT/0900-1000 PDT/1600-1700 UTC Facilitator: Dana Jensen, Gemini Industries Lecturer: Rafferty Jackson, Jack Industries Commentator: Kirsten Bartok Touw, New Vista Acquisition Corp  The Vertical Flight Society is starting a new series of regular webinars to educate our members on avenues for startup funding. "Raising $tartup Capital" is intended to provide an introduction for our member companies on the different pathways for raising capital.
This first lecture will feature experts explaining general fundraising avenues available for advanced vertical flight technology development companies — including a discussion of angel, venture, Series A-D, SPAC, IPO and non-dilutive government funding. This is the first in a series of programs intended to educate the industry on the ins and outs of securing capital.
We want to help our small business members with innovative ideas be as efficient as possible in their efforts to find funding, and reduce the number of blind alleys that only waste time and effort. A lot of money is being invested in eVTOL/advanced air mobility and a majority of our member companies are active in this space, so these webinars will be focused primarily (but not exclusively) on eVTOL/AAM.
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| Thu., April 1: UAS/UAM Becoming a Reality, presented by the VFS Philadelphia, Arizona and Redstone Chapters 1900-2000 EDT/1800-1900 CDT/1600-1700 PDT/2300-0000 UTC Moderator: Colton Marchesseault, Boeing Speaker: Hector Garcia, Honeywell  Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) markets are gaining investor strengths and are starting to achieve market stability generating great tail winds for entry into service. Technology continues to advance at a very quick pace so now with regulators feeling the urgency they too are making great strides to move quicker so together this industry is becoming a reality. This presentation will highlight some of the market drivers and technology needs to make UAS and UAM operations a reality. |
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| Wed., March 24: Joby Aviation Journey in Urban Air Mobility, presented by the VFS Stratford Chapter 1800-1930 EDT/1700-1830 CDT/1500-1630 PDT/2200-2330 UTC Moderator: Alexander Mark, Sikorsky Speaker: Maryam Khoshlahjeh, Joby Aviation  Joby aviation’s mission is to save a billion people an hour a day, using an all-electric passenger aircraft. Dr. Khoshlahjeh will be speaking about Joby Aviation's vision for Urban Air Mobility and its addressable market. This presentation will cover Joby's S4 eVTOL aircraft and the progress Joby has made over the past decade to become the leader in this space. |
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| Wed., March 24: Real-Time Innovations: Using Industry Standards to Drive the Production of Next Generation Autonomous Platforms, an eVTOL Writers Group Interview 1300-1400 EDT/1200-1130 CDT/1100-1000 PDT/1700-1800 UTC Moderator: tba Speaker: Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director of Aerospace and Defense, Real-Time Innovations  Creating autonomous vehicles is a challenge. Deploying these platforms into a safe functioning environment is and even greater challenge, and our industry is on the verge of proving this in multiple application segments. These deployments will have to use proven industry standards to both qualify the vehicle systems and their area of operations. Please join Chip Downing, Senior Market Development Director of Aerospace & Defense at Real-Time Innovations (RTI) as he discusses the use of industry platform and safety standards, including DO-178C, FACE, and DDS, as a risk reduction and a deployment accelerant of new autonomous systems. |
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| Tue., March 9: System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) for Flight Testers, presented by the VFS eVTOL Flight Test Council 1100-1230 EST/1000-1130 CST/0900-1030 PST/1600-1730 UTC Moderator: Al Lawless, Chair Speaker: Nancy Leveson, Professor, MIT  VFS and the E-VTOL Flight Test Council are hosting a short webinar introducing STPA (System-Theoretic Process Analysis) to flight testers. This is a hazard analysis technique that goes beyond component failures and considers unsafe interactions of system components - even if not failed. MIT Professor and originator Dr. Nancy Leveson will discuss the advantages of STPA over traditional hazard/risk analysis techniques - especially for very complex systems. Attendees will come away with a big-picture sense of where this process pays off, what investment is needed, and where to go for training. |
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| Tue., Feb. 24: Motion Amplification® and Camera-Based Full Field Vibration Techniques, presented by the VFS Stratford Chapter 1830-1930 EST/1730-1830 CST/1630-1730 PST/2330-0030 UTC Moderator: Mark Alexander, Sikorsky Speaker: Jeff Hay, CEO, RDI Technologies  The webinar will be an introduction to Motion Amplification® technology, applications, and case examples with videos. Motion Amplification® is a patented video-processing technique that detects subtle motion and enhances that motion to a level visible with the naked eye. Motion Amplification® Technology can resolve motions as small as 250 nanometers at 1 meter and can be performed live and in real-time, making it suitable for a range of applications from product design, test, and measurements, R&D, test cells, to field-based machinery fault diagnosis, dynamics, and structural testing. |
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| Tue., Feb. 23: Los Angeles County Fire-Air Operations: Saving lives from the air, presented by the VFS East New England Chapter 1200-1300 EST/1100-1200 CST/0900-1000 PST/1700-1800 UTC Moderator: Harry Nahatis, ENE Chapter President Speakers: Dennis Blumenthal, Chief of Helicopter Maintenance Patrick Sprengel, Former Battalion Chief of Air Operations  Join us to hear from Dennis Blumenthal, Chief of Helicopter Maintenance, and Pat Sprengel, Former Battalion Chief of Air Operations at LA County Fire. Thank you to United Aero Group for generously sponsoring this month's webinar! |
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| Wed., Feb. 17: VFS eVTOL Writers Group Interview - Embention 1100-1200 EST/1000-1100 CST/0900-1000 MST / 0800 - 0900 PST/1600-1700 UTC Moderator: Kelsey Reichmann, Avionics International Speaker: Javier Espuch, Business Development Manager  Embention develops components for drones and UAM, as well as autonomous systems for professional and military use. Embention develops two main product lines: Veronte and NMAND. - Veronte: The Veronte product line develops autopilots and equipment for autonomous vehicles. It includes high-performance UAV autopilots, control stations, payloads such as cameras, and many other accessories. This system is capable of controlling unmanned vehicles, such as fixed wing, helicopter, and multirotor vehicles, in order to perform fully autonomous operations. - NMAND The NMAND product line develops the integration of ready to fly platforms and unmanned vehicles. These drones can be customized for many applications such as surveillance or photogrammetry. |
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| Wed., Feb. 10: VFS eVTOL Writers Group Interview - Volocopter 1100-1200 EST/1000-1100 CST/0900-1000 MST / 0800 - 0900 PST/1600-1700 UTC Moderator: Charles Alcock, Senior Editor, AIN Publications Speaker: Florian Reuter, CEO, Volocopter Oliver Reinhardt, Head of Certification & Quality, Volocopter  Here are the main topics and points of the conversation that will be aired in the session: * Progress report on certification work with EASA, update on when the agency will finalize the SC-VTOL and what this will look like. * More detail on Volocopter’s just-announced plans to work with the FAA on certification and how it intends to navigate its way through to type certification. * Update and discussion on Volocopter’s plans to support the operational launch in locations such as Paris, Germany, Singapore and the U.S. How does Volocopter intend to establish partnerships to build the ground infrastructure and prepare to provide commercial flights? Why does it make sense for an engineering-based startup to aspire to be the operator, why not sell the aircraft to existing operating companies (e.g. helicopter operators, private jet charter operators, etc)? * Why does Volocopter still think that low-capacity, short-range, all-electric eVTOLs make sense? Isn’t it better to aspire to a more diverse array of advanced air mobility applications, by using hybrid-powered aircraft that can deliver more payload and range in the short term? * What does Volocopter see happening in this sector between now and the middle of the decade? How much consolidation will there be and how will this happen? How do they see the investment environment, is money still available from venture capital and private equity sources? |
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| Thu., Feb. 4: Quarterly Membership Meeting of the Federal City Chapter of the VFS 1800-2000 EST/1700-1900 CST/1500-1700 PST/2300-0100 UTC Moderator: Rich Koucheravy, VFS Federal City Chapter President Speaker: James Sutherland, University of Maryland  Agenda - 6:00-6:10 Welcome and introductions (Rich Koucheravy) - 6:10-6:25 UMD Graduate Student Design Team Presentation, James Sutherland - 6:30-7:30 US Military Panel, Service Vertical Lift Modernization Efforts, incl Q&A US Army: Colonel Lance Van Zandt (HQDA, Army G8, Aviation) US Navy: CAPT Brian "Ghost" Binder, Branch Head, Rotary Aircraft, OPNAV N98 US Air Force: Major Jake Berninghausen (SAF/AQ) USMC: Colonel Chris Boniface, Aviation Programs & Weapons Systems/Assault Support (HQMC Aviation) USCG: CAPT Frederick “Carl” Riedlin, Chief of Aviation Forces (CG-711) - 7:30-8:00 Chapter Business and Closing |
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| Tue., Jan. 19: Austin Meyer - How X-Plane can be used for eVTOL flight, presented by the eVTOL Flight Test Council 1100-1200 EST/1000-1100 CST/0800-0900 PST/1600-1700 UTC Moderator: Peter Schmidt, Transcend Speaker: Austin Meyer, X-Plane  On Jan 19th, Austin Meyer, inventor, investor, entrepreneur, software engineer, and CEO/developer of X-Plane will present on flight simulation of eVTOLs based on X-Plane’s “near-first-principle physics” approach. He will discuss the challenges he faced and overcame in doing so with X-Plane, including enhancing blade element theory flight modeling and improving its handling qualities for aircraft with multiple, possibly tilting/transitioning props. |
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