The Vertical Flight Society (VFS) is in the final stages of preparation for the latest in a series of highly successful workshops focused on advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure. The 6th Workshop on AAM Infrastructure will be held Sept. 20-22, 2022, in Dayton, Ohio, at the Marriott at the University of Dayton.
VFS is the world’s only technical society dedicated to advancing helicopters and other rotorcraft, drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and other AAM aircraft, and related technologies. As a global leader on eVTOL for nearly a decade, VFS recognized eVTOL infrastructure as a defining challenge in 2019 and has provide foundational support in defining requirements and promoting understanding of the key infrastructure challenges and means to address them.
According to Rex Alexander, VFS Infrastructure Advisor, “The overall theme for this year’s two-day infrastructure workshop will be centered around the recently published NASA whitepaper, ‘Advanced Air Mobility Vertiport Considerations: A List and Overview.’” The whitepaper, which is a direct product of NASA’s highly successful AAM Ecosystem Working Groups (AEWGs) program, outlines over 500 different considerations for evaluating and determining vertiport site selection which were developed and compiled by nearly a hundred subject matter experts.
In its continued pursuit to provide industry with tangible and actionable information, and unique to this year’s workshop, VFS will be conducting six attendee breakout brainstorming sessions on Day 1. These high intensity, fast paced audience participation sessions, led by industry leaders and subject matter experts, are designed to perform a deep dive into six critical areas. These areas include infrastructure cybersecurity, equity considerations, vertiport configuration, safety management systems, vertiport architectural & engineering programing, and vertiport airspace.
On Day 2, attendees will be given a full back-brief on each of the six brainstorming sessions from session leaders. “It is our hope, based on the results from the Day 1 brainstorming sessions, to provide insight and guidance as to what our priorities for AAM infrastructure need to be and where research dollars should to be directed going forward,” said Alexander. Additionally, on Day 2, the workshop will conduct several panel discussions led by industry leaders on topics that include battery charging infrastructure, local perspectives, international perspectives, and hydrogen infrastructure at airports and vertiports.
According to Alexander, the target audience for the workshop is fairly broad but at the same time heavily geared towards federal, state and local decision makers who will be responsible for the development of AAM infrastructure policies, regulations, ordinances and codes. This includes such groups as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), state departments of transportation, local planning and zoning commissions, and city transportation heads.
On Day 3, VFS will be hosting a tour of the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. Tour highlights include the Beta Technologies Portable Vertiport, Beta Technologies Simulator, FlyOhio Community Vertiport Challenge, the Ohio UAS Center, Agility Prime Program Display, and the Moog SureFly eVTOL aircraft.
To register for the workshop, or to learn more, go to www.vtol.org/infrastructure. A discounted group rate is available at the venue hotel through the website. Sponsors of the event are Woolpert, Parallax Advanced Research, PS&S and VPorts.
