Movers and Shakers of Industry Awarded for Advancing the Art, Breaking New Ground, Serving Community 

The Vertical Flight Society has announced its group of 2022 VFS award winners, paying tribute to leaders in the industry, technical advancements, and new developments across the field. 

Notable winners this year: The NASA Mars Ingenuity Team,  this year’s recipient of the VFS Howard Hughes Award for accomplishing the first powered flight on another planet. Their project has gone on to be far more successful than ever expected, operating for months after its original, projected end of service. 

The winner of the Leonardo International Fellowship Award is the Turkish Utility Helicopter Program Systems and Test Team, a joint effort that brings together Sikorsky Aircraft in the US, Aselsan, and Turkish Aerospace in Turkey. Their joint effort wrought a new avionics system for the prototype and production line of the T70, a Turkish Aerospace-produced variant of the S-70i Black Hawk.

“VFS has been recognizing the most significant accomplishments in vertical flight since the birth of the industry nearly 80 years ago,” said VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. “Today, we recognize the inspiring results of teamwork and collaboration that have demonstrated and advanced the capabilities of vertical flight aircraft.”

FMI: www.vtol.org