Ushering In the AAM Era

Upwards of forty of the world’s leading electric aircraft developers and technology experts are slated to speak at the 17th Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium (EAS).

The event will be held, online and in person, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on 22-23 July—the weekend prior to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture 2023.

The world’s longest-running electric aviation technology symposium, EAS is organized by industry and government stakeholders for purpose of broadening public awareness of events transpiring with the emergent AAM sector.

2023’s EAS will feature a panel convened to support the U.S. government’s AAM Interagency Working Group. Panel-members include Annie Petsonk, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs; and Peter Irvine, DOT deputy director office of aviation analysis and executive lead for aviation policy. Additional panelists include speakers from DOT, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force AFWERX unit.

Companies and organizations participating in 2023’s EAS include AeroTEC, Archer, Beta Technologies, Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI), Diamond Aircraft, Hydroplane, Joby Aviation, Jetson Aero, Lilium, Limosa, LuftCar, Opener, Overair, SkyDrive, Textron eAviation, Wisk, Whisper Aero, ZeroAvia, and ZEVA.

EAS is hosted by the Vertical Flight Society, an international non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of vertical flight.

Established in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society by the visionaries of the early helicopter industry, the Vertical Flight Society espouses the belief that technological cooperation and collaboration are essential to the development and proliferation of new aircraft technologies and types. As the American Helicopter Society championed the advent and rise of the conventional helicopter, so the Vertical Flight Society fosters the advancement of today’s revolutionary rotorcraft.

EAS organizer and executive director of the Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) Yolanka Wulff stated: “Many of the world’s leading electric aviation developers spoke or attended the Electric Aircraft Symposium over the past 16 years before they became widely known.”

EAS is a hybrid event, held contemporaneously online and at the Culver Family Welcome Center on the University of Wisconsin’s Oshkosh campus. The program is scheduled to run from 09:00 to 17:00 CDT on Saturday, 22 July and Sunday, 23 July 2023. Each day will comprise six moderated sessions covering a spectrum of topics including community integration, electric aircraft developments, personal/private AAM aircraft, propulsion (including hydrogen-electric), regional air mobility, and aircraft and pilot testing and standards development. All twelve scheduled sessions will include question-and-answer discussions between attendees and presenters.

VFS Executive Director Angelo Collins set forth: “The electric aircraft industry is gaining momentum with investments topping $10-billion in the past five years. EAS provides an opportunity to get comprehensive updates on the state of the industry and hear from top AAM thought leaders.”

VFS board of directors member and Aeromedia principal Ken Swartz remarked: “It’s wonderful to arrive in Oshkosh and meet industry leaders, and learn of the latest technology, market, and certification developments before moving on to AirVenture the next day. More and more companies and individuals working on or interested in electric aircraft and AAM are attending EAA AirVenture—as electrification extends into the ultralight, experimental, and general aviation sectors, and EAS brings it all together.”

FMI: www.vtol.org, www.vtol.org/eas