AHS International Recognizes Franklin Institute as First Vertical Flight Heritage Site
AHS International, the world’s premier professional vertical flight technical society, will recognize the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as its first Vertical Flight Heritage Site. A ceremony will be held at the Franklin Institute on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. [Read Press Release]
The ceremony on will be held as part of a half-day of 75th anniversary celebrations: The First Rotating Wing Aircraft Meeting was held at the Franklin Institute on October 27-29, 1938. It was the first international meeting on rotary-wing aircraft and marked a turning point from autogyros to helicopters. It was from this event that the American helicopter industry was born.
The Vertical Flight Heritage Site recognition ceremony is preceded by a half day of technical sessions discussing the past, present and future of rotary wing flight – mirroring the original 1938 event – and followed by a Gala Banquet in Franklin Hall that is a fundraiser for the American Helicopter Museum & Education Center. Go to www.vtol.org/first to register or donate to this important rotorcraft charity.
The purpose of the Vertical Flight Heritage Site Program is to recognize and preserve sites of the most noteworthy and significant contributions made in both the theory and practice of helicopter and other VTOL aircraft technology. More information is available at www.vtol.org/heritage.