The Vertical Flight Society (VFS) has announced that the\nnumber of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft concepts being\ntracked in its World eVTOL Aircraft Directory has now reached 1,000 concepts\nfrom more than 430 designers. The directory is part of the VFS Electric VTOL\nNews website, www.eVTOL.news, the world\u2019s first and most extensive online\nresource on eVTOL aircraft and technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electric propulsion enables new aircraft concepts with\nenhanced performance, low or no emissions, reduced operating costs and low\nnoise that will expand the market for vertical flight to missions not optimally\nserved by helicopters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After holding the world\u2019s first eVTOL workshop in 2014, VFS\nlaunched the world\u2019s first e-newsletter, \u201cThe Electric VTOL News,\u201d in 2016 when\nthe number of known eVTOL programs under development was about a half dozen.\nThis number quickly grew after the announcement (at the Society\u2019s third annual\neVTOL Workshop in 2016) of Uber\u2019s Elevate initiative and the first Uber Elevate\nSummit in April 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe realized that there needed some way for the public to\nkeep track of all the new innovative concepts being explored,\u201d said VFS\nDirector of Strategy Mike Hirschberg. \u201cSince some innovative designs that\nseemed implausible at the time continued maturing into plausible approaches, we\ndecided to catalogue every know design \u2014 from the silly to the serious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the website was launched in April 2017, a total of 18\nknown eVTOL designs were included. All of the companies or concepts listed then\nare still involved today: Airbus Helicopters, Airbus A3, Aurora Flight\nSciences, Bell, Carter Jaunt Aviation Technologies (now Jaunt Air Mobility),\nDeLorean Aerospace, Detroit Aircraft (now ASX), EHang, e-volo (now Volocopter),\nJetpack Aviation (Mayman Aerospace), Joby, Kitty Hawk (now part of Wisk),\nLilium, Cartivator (now SkyDrive), Uber (now part of Joby), XTI Aviation (now\nXTI Aerospace), Zee Aero (now Wisk) and Workhorse (now part of Moog).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past seven years, designs have been added to the\nWorld eVTOL Aircraft Directory at a rapid pace, reaching 100 catalogued\nconcepts by July 2018, 200 by September 2019, 400 by January 2021, 600 by\nJanuary 2022 and 800 by April 2023. The 1,000th entry, the Doroni Aerospace\nH1-X two-seat personal eVTOL aircraft, was added this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Directory includes not only current aircraft under\ndevelopment, but also historical designs, with many defunct designs preserved\nfor the record. For instance, Volocopter is currently working on three products\n\u2014 VoloCity, VoloRegion and VoloDrone \u2014 but 15 different designs have been\nexplored, including the single-seat VC007 from more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concepts are included from not only established aerospace\ncompanies and startups, but also by individuals, universities and government\nagencies. The free website site also hosts more than 950 eVTOL news posts,\nincluding some 400 in-depth articles from the Society\u2019s Vertiflite magazine,\nthe leading periodical on eVTOL and rotorcraft developments, as well as links\nto video recordings from conferences and short courses, and other resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also included in the Society’s remit are technologies that\nare not uniquely applicable to vertical flight aircraft, including\nbattery-electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen-electric propulsion systems.\nAircraft that use electric propulsion \u2014 including eVTOL and electric short- or\nconventional- takeoff and landing (eSTOL and eCTOL) aircraft \u2014 are broadly\nreferred to as electric aircraft or advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In support of the broader electric aviation revolution, VFS\nhas been sponsoring the annual Electric Aircraft Symposium (EAS) \u2014 originally\nstarted in 2007 by the CAFE Foundation \u2014 since 2018. This year\u2019s 18th Annual\nEAS will once again be held online and in person in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on July\n20\u201321, the weekend prior to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)\nAirVenture 2024, the world\u2019s largest airshow and fly-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EAS is the world\u2019s longest-running electric aviation\ntechnology meeting. More than 200 attendees are expected again this year. It\u2019s\norganized by VFS with industry and government leaders who are part of the AAM\necosystem to provide updates to the community and the public. The focus of EAS\nis on technological advancements and addressing major issues like certification\nand infrastructure for the industry as a whole. Details on the invited\nspeakers, registration and sponsorships are posted on the VFS website at: www.vtol.org\/eas<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Electric Aircraft Symposium is a unique event that\nbrings AAM experts to the world\u2019s largest general aviation event for lively\ndiscussions on the progress and challenges of electric aviation,\u201d said VFS\nExecutive Director Angelo Collins. \u201cWe invite anyone interested in electric\naviation to attend EAS and participate in this always-illuminating event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n VFS was founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943\nby the visionaries of the early helicopter industry, who believed that\ntechnological cooperation and collaboration were essential to support this new\ntype of aircraft. Today, history is repeating itself, with VFS playing a\nsimilar role helping to advance today\u2019s revolutionary electric aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n