Cape May in September

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), a non-profit technical society for the advancement of vertical flight, will hold its 7th Workshop on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Infrastructure on 26 through 28 September 2023 in Cape May, New Jersey.

AAM is an air transport system concept that integrates new, transformational aircraft designs and flight technologies into extant and modified airspace operations. Typically highly-automated, AAM aircraft may be powered by batteries, hybrid electric systems, or hydrogen fuel-cells. AAM aircraft now in development and nearing certification include both electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft and those requiring runways for Short or Conventional (eSTOL or eCTOL) takeoff operations.

For more than a decade, VFS has remained in the vanguard of vertical and electric flight, working alongside the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies for purpose of supporting the integration of eVTOL and AAM aircraft into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS).

The 7th Workshop on Advanced Air Mobility will be held in the Cape May Convention Hall.

Tuesday morning, 26 September will begin with AAM 101—an introduction and general overview of AAM concepts, aircraft, and infrastructure led by the Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI). The presentation will include a deep dive into AAM operational and regulatory conventions. The Workshop will conclude Thursday, 28 September at 12:00 EDT. Attendees will have opportunity to sign up for a Thursday afternoon tour of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center.

The Workshop is slated to include keynotes from Paula Nouragas, chief scientist and technical advisor, Office of Science and Technology Integration, FAA Tech Center; and Haddon Antonucci, policy director, office of local Congressman Jeff Van Drew, a staunch advocate for the FAA Tech Center and AAM.

Workshop sessions will cover the following topics: infrastructure data integrity; performance-based infrastructure; performance-based fire protection in AAM; FAA AAM infrastructure update; AAM infrastructure and insurance; AAM operations at airports; AAM digital infrastructure; drone and drone-port integration; and micro grids for AAM. Moderators include representatives of eVTOL developers, architecture and engineering firms, infrastructure companies, AAM thought leaders, and FAA officials.

As with past workshops, VFS will provide a unique forum in which civilian, industry, and government stakeholders may discuss the latest efforts, advancements, and challenges germane to AAM infrastructure.

The VFS AAM Workshop is open to and has historically been attended by: eVTOL manufacturers, federal and state department of transportation (DOT) officials, FAA officials, municipality leaders, Department of Defense (DOD) leaders, infrastructure designers, architecture and engineering firms, insurance companies, FAA Part 135 certificate holders, building and fire code professionals, land-use professionals, and members of the general public interested in learning more about Advanced Air Mobility.

Parties seeking additional information pertaining to the Vertical Flight Society’s 7th Workshop on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Infrastructure—to include means by which to register—are invited to visit: www.vtol.org/inf-2023.

The first four AAM Infrastructure Workshops were held semi-annually from 2019 to 2021 and yearly thereafter. The Workshops are the only in the world to comprehensively address the challenges and potentially society-changing ramifications of Advanced Air Mobility.

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.

FMI: www.vtol.org/infrastructure