Our Vision and Mission
In November 2022, the VFS Board of Directors approved updates to the VFS Vision and Mission Statements approved in October 2011. The Board also developed a statement of the Goals and Supporting Initiatives underway by the Society. These statements were updated and developed over summer/fall 2022 and are presented below.
Tagline
Advancing Vertical Flight
Vision
An inclusive and diverse international organization that advocates, promotes and supports vertical flight technology, policies and professional development.
Mission
Provide opportunity for technical data exchange and dissemination; promote awareness of vertical flight capabilities, challenges and development; engage in community outreach and advocate for public policy consistent with the goals of the Society; leverage the technical base to explore innovation; and foster a diverse and inclusive environment that promotes interest in vertical flight careers and professional advancement in vertical flight.
Goals & Supporting Initiatives
Goal 1: Scientific Advancement
Provide forums for academia, industry and government to share research and development results through meetings, interchanges, technical papers, presentations and archival journal articles, and facilitate the free flowing of ideas.
- Provide the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft community with timely, relevant technical conferences, symposiums and workshops.
- Build upon the three annual VFS headquarters-led conferences: the Annual Forum, electricric VTOL Symposium and electric Aircraft Symposium.
- Encourage VFS chapters and technical committees to work together to develop and hold specialized technical meetings to support the local and international VTOL community. Currently the Redstone, Hampton Roads, Philadelphia, Arizona and San Francisco Bay Area Chapters hold specialists’ meetings. Help to expand these current chapter technical meetings with additional content where appropriate and encourage other chapters to start/restart technical meetings.
- Offer topical short courses, webinars, and other professional development learning opportunities. Continue to grow the educational short course catalog to provide supplemental knowledge for professional development.
- Maintain the high technical caliber of the Journal of the AHS, while working to accelerate the backlog of submitted papers.
- Provide the membership with learning opportunities through the sharing of events and webinars and encourage individuals and organizations to publish and present their work.
Goal 2: Solve Tough Technical Challenges
Vertical flight is extremely challenging but new technical understanding, breakthroughs, and technologies provide opportunities to overcome barriers. VFS brings the technical community together to solve tough challenges.
- Provide specialized topical workshops and symposiums to assemble a community of experts to address specific challenges and technologies (e.g., electric VTOL, infrastructure, hydrogen).
- Build working groups/task forces to address specific issues impacting the industry as a whole (e.g., flight testing, hydrogen, logistics, training).
- Look for critical barriers that are not being adequately addressed and look for opportunities to overcome the challenge.
- Collaborate with other organizations to provide knowledge, expertise and technology to address industry issues (e.g., noise, safety, emissions, standards development).
- Collaborate with organizations in adjacent segments that are solving similar problems that the VTOL industry is experiencing or will experience.
Goal 3 – Vertical Flight Advocacy
VFS advocates for members in academia, industry and government organizations, and for advancing vertical flight for the benefit of society.
- Advocate for increased research and development by academia, industry and government agencies worldwide.
- Advocate for government policies favorable to the VTOL aircraft community.
- Advocate for national and international applied-research collaborations across government, industry, and academia to enable transition of university research and talent.
- Support science and technology (S&T) initiatives that are pre-competitive in nature (e.g., Joint Multirole Rotorcraft, electric VTOL).
- Support existing programs and developments, but also advocate for continued advancements (e.g., NASA Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology, Future Vertical Lift, Clean Sky 2).
- Act as an industry spokesperson for VTOL research, development & fielding, and for the vertical flight workforce.
- Provide commentary and advocacy that supports industry, academic and government programs, initiatives and the workforce.
- Collaborate with domestic and global organizations to strengthen the effectiveness of VFS advocacy.
Supporting Initiative — Workforce Development
Advocate for talent to join and remain in the VTOL workforce. Provide educational and professional development resources for today’s and tomorrow’s vertical flight talent.
- Develop workforce expertise and provide job networking opportunities and resources.
- Support collegiate competitions (e.g., Design-Build-Vertical Flight, Student Design Competition) and work to grow the number of participating students.
- Maintain the Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF) scholarship program (currently $100K/year) and broaden its appeal and reach.
- Initiate and sustain programs to recruit and retain more technical talent from diverse backgrounds to the industry, such as the Society’s DiversiFlite initiative.
- Conduct or support studies of the vertical flight workforce, seeking to support the critical demand for talent. This includes working to increase representation of people in underrepresented demographics through inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA).
- Support science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach initiatives in primary education institutions, expanding and partnering to increase effectiveness and future workforce diversity.
- Advocate for expanding the US Department of Defense and NASA Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOE) collaborative research program to strengthen future vertical flight workforce pipeline.
Supporting Initiative — Grow VFS and Its Impact
Support the health of the society, growing the membership. Continue outreach efforts to recruit new members — individual, educational and corporate memberships.
- VFS provides vital services and benefits to an incredibly varied membership, from students and CEOs to technologists in all phases of their careers, and to universities, corporations and government organizations. Grow VFS by creating compelling value proposition(s) for its individual, academic, government and corporate members.
- Work to expand the visibility, awareness and reach of VFS through continued excellence of products and services, partnerships, advertising/marketing, and engagement at other events. Encourage VFS members to highlight, promote and recruit for the Society.
- Provide opportunities for senior leaders in industry, academia and government from around the world to engage with members. Invite senior leaders to help steer the future direction of the Society to ensure that VFS remains relevant to the current and future vertical flight community.
- Encourage members to take leadership positions in the Society at all levels (e.g., chapters, regions, committees, technical meetings/workshops, working groups, Technical Council, Board, etc.).
- Strive for inclusion of a diversity of perspectives, and seek engagement from the widest practical diversity of membership in geographic, demographic, technical disciplines, etc.
- Seek additional individual, university, company/government agency members.
- Work to continue corporate member growth. Increase recruitment of new VTOL organizations, including subsystem, component, and services suppliers.
- Develop expanded member services that attract and retain members to continue growth in individual and academic memberships.
- Expand the Society’s reach in adjacent markets to enhance technology in vertical lift, such as autonomous/uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS); electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric power; urban air mobility and regional air mobility, etc.
- Solidify VFS as the go-to community for electric VTOL technology research and development, and sustainable aviation solutions.