Vertical Flight Infrastructure 101

For more than 80 years, VFS has been a leader in the advancement of vertical flight. Since 2014, VFS has been one of the biggest advocates of advanced air mobility (AAM), bringing together the top minds and resources from around the world. Building on this success, VFS is uniquely positioned to foster infrastructure research and development in support of the vertical flight industry. Through its conferences, workshops, education programs and other resources, VFS is leading efforts to bring AAM to reality.

Technical aspects of infrastructure that VFS actively supports, engages in, and promotes for the advancement of AAM include:

• Physical Infrastructure: The physical sites and structures where vertical flight aircraft intend to conduct operations, e.g., airports, heliports, helistops, vertiports, vertistops, STOL-Ports, and Drone-Ports.
• Weather: Weather monitoring, reporting and dissemination equipment, systems, regulations, and standards for flight operations in rural, suburban and urban microclimate environments.
• Instrument Operations: Instrument flight procedures to include approaches, departures, routing,and air traffic control operations to include system automation.
• Regulations and Standards: Infrastructure regulations and standards to include Federal, State, and Local Municipality aviation regulations and laws, building codes, fire codes, and land-use policies.

VFS Infrastructure Workshops

Plan to attend! The 8th Workshop on AAM Infrastructure will be held in Washington, DC, at the US Navy Memorial Visitor Center on Tues-Wed, Sept. 17–18, 2024. 

In the 1st workshop in Sept. 2019, industry representatives and regulators focused on the "defining challenges" of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, identifying key stakeholders and strategies for moving forward. Summary article: VFS eVTOL Defining Challenges Workshop, Vertiflite, Nov/Dec 2019.

The 2nd Workshop on eVTOL Infrastructure, held virtually (due to COVID-19) in a series on sponsored webinars in April and May 2020, covered foundational elements needed to support the development of safe, functional and economically viable infrastructure to support UAM applications. 

The 3rd Workshop on eVTOL Infrastructure, held virtually (due to COVID-19) in a series was held in September 2020, covered foundational elements needed to support the development of safe, functional and economically viable infrastructure to support UAM applications. A virtual tour of the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City was also part of the program. The output of the workshop was captured via audience inputs and used to set the content for the 4th workshop.

The 4th Workshop on eVTOL Infrastructure, held virtually in March 2021, addressed policy changes needed to support the development of safe, functional and economically viable infrastructure to support UAM applications. Summary article: VFS eVTOL Infrastructure Workshop Review — Advancing Technology through Policy

The 5th Workshop on eVTOL Infrastructure, held virtually in September 2021, focused on infrastructure operations and safety as they relate to eVTOL aircraft capabilities and performance. Summary article: Laying the Groundwork for Urban Air Mobility

The 6th Workshop on eVTOL Infrastructure, held in Dayton, Ohio, in September 2022, elaborated on vertiport site selection criteria developed from collaborative work conducted by the NASA AAM Ecosystem Community Integration Working Group. Summary article: A Workshop That Worked

The 7th Workshop on AAM Infrastructure was held in Cape May, New Jersey, on Sept. 26-28, 2023. This event included an informative AAM 101, followed by a deep dive into important and timely topics, as well as a tour of the FAA Tech Center. Learn how to access the videos and get the presentation PDFs. Summary article: A Master Class in AAM Infrastructure

Background

The Vertical Flight Society, founded in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society, is the world's leading professional organization working to advance vertical flight. VFS has been a leading advocate and supporter "The Electric VTOL Revolution." We held the world's eVTOL technical meeting in 2014, the first the eVTOL Newsletter in 2016, the first eVTOL website in 2017, the first eVTOL Short Courses in 2019, and now have hundreds of hours of informative and educational videos on electric VTOL.

A summary of the work that VFS and its partners have done, along with information on previous events and activities, can be found on our Transformative Vertical Flight (TVF) webpage. 

Questions?

Contact VFS Infrastructure Advisor Rex Alexander for more information.