The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), the world’s leading non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, reports that it has continued to experience steady growth in the second quarter of the year, propelled largely by the continued expansion of electric aircraft developments around the world.

As of July 1, 2022, a total of 176 companies and other organizations are now members of VFS, a net increase of 20 organizations from a year ago. This continues the record growth with a strong annual 13% increase. This is a doubling of the number of VFS corporate members from just five years ago. Much of this growth is due to the extensive support efforts and resources that VFS provides to the vertical flight and electric flight community, including technical resources, talent acquisition, educational opportunities and networking.

The cohort of 2nd Quarter 2022 new VFS Corporate Members is listed below. Descriptions of each company, including links to websites and contact information, are found in the VFS Corporate Member Directory. Information on the benefits and rates for corporate membership are posted on our Corporate Membership page.

• EHang Intelligent Equipment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. (Small Business Class)
• Enstrom Helicopter Corporation (Small Business Class)
• Lockheed Martin Government Affairs (Small Business Class)
• MightyFly (Associate Class)
• OSS Air Management Pvt Ltd (Associate Class)
• PSSC Labs (Small Business Class)
• Qarbon Aerospace (Silver Class)
• Technology for Energy Corporation (Associate Class)
• Xagon Solutions Inc (Small Business Class)

In addition, VFS is pleased to announce that Lilium GmbH, which was one of the first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft companies to join VFS in February 2017, has increased its membership level from an Associate Member to a Gold Member, the same level as GE Aviation and Joby Aviation. The Gold Membership Class is second only to that of the five major helicopter manufacturers — Airbus, Bell, Boeing, Leonardo and Sikorsky — which are VFS Platinum Members.

Partly due to Lilium’s early support, VFS was able to expand its mission over the past several years — from conventional helicopters and advanced rotorcraft to electric flight aircraft. This has continued, with VFS expanding its support to other types of electric aircraft that use battery-electric, hybrid-electric or hydrogen-electric propulsion systems, i.e., fixed-wing electric-powered conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) and short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft.

“The advanced air mobility (AAM) industry has changed tremendously since Lilium and other eVTOL companies first joined VFS more than five years ago,” said Mike Hirschberg, VFS Executive Director. “Beyond moving from drawings to advanced prototypes, many other facets of the AAM ecosystem — including supply-chain, infrastructure, standards, regulations, manufacturing and operational approaches — are coming together to support the ‘Electric VTOL Revolution.’”

Since VFS began supporting the Electric VTOL Revolution in 2013, the Society has been the leading voice for the eVTOL community in industry, academia and government. VFS hosted the world’s first eVTOL technical meeting in 2014, launched the world’s first eVTOL eNewsletter in 2016, world’s first dedicated eVTOL website in 2017, the world’s first eVTOL short course in 2018, and North America’s first hydrogen aviation symposium in March 2022. Many of the key business relationships in the electric flight community were forged or strengthened through VFS events and resources.
VFS was founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943 by the visionaries of the early helicopter industry, who believed that technological cooperation and collaboration were essential to support this new type of aircraft. Today, history is repeating itself, with VFS playing a similar role helping to advance today’s revolutionary electric aircraft.

This press release was prepared and distributed by the Vertical Flight Society.