The Philadelphia Chapter of the Vertical Flight Society invites everyone back to the Media Townehouse for our December Dinner Meeting! We have an exciting program lined up with a presentation on the MH-139 Grey Wolf program. This will be the first Dinner Meeting in chapter history to feature the Grey Wolf helicopter for the US Air Force, so it is not to be missed!
Please see our Upcoming Events page for more details and links to RSVP and pay via CheddarUp
The VFS Philadelphia Chapter is opening abstract submission for the 2025-2026 Lichten Competition!
The Lichten Award was established to provide an incentive to VFS members who have not previously presented the results of their work at a technical forum to begin presenting their work at local and regional VFS meetings. The award was established in 1976 to honor the memory of Robert L. Lichten, an outstanding rotary–wing engineer and the Society’s 22nd president.
The winner of the Lichten Award will be invited to present his or her paper at Forum 82 and receives the following:
In addition, the first runner-up is given an opportunity to present at the Forum and receives complimentary Forum registration, along with a certificate.
The competition starts locally in each VFS chapter where each candidate gives a 20-minute presentation before a panel of judges. This may be an in-person, virtual, or hybrid event depending on candidate(s) location and schedule.
If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, please reply to Dr. Robert Brzozowski with a signed copy of the Eligibility Statement (attached below) as soon as possible. Please include “2025-2026 Lichten Competition” in the subject line of your email. An electronic copy of your abstract is due by Wednesday, November 26th. Note, this deadline will not be extended. We recommend early submission to allow sufficient time to prepare for the regional competition in mid-December 2025 (exact date TBD). The regional winner will be required to write a paper and submit it to VFS Headquarters no later than February 28th, 2026. All candidates should refer to the Lichten Award Procedures (attached below) for the full scope of the competition. Further guidance will be provided for candidates that submit an abstract. Please feel free to forward this email and information about the Lichten Competition to anyone you know who may be interested in competing. On behalf of the Executive Board of the VFS Philadelphia chapter, we hope you take advantage of this special opportunity, and good luck!
The Philadelphia chapter of the Vertical Flight Society hosted our April Dinner Meeting on Monday, April 14th. The dinner meeting featured a talk from Col. Hurst of the USMC and also a Capstone Project presentation from the class at the USNA.
Thanks to all those that came! Be sure to check out our Members Only page for pictures from the dinner event!
The Philadelphia chapter of the Vertical Flight Society held our February Dinner Meeting on Wednesday, February 26th. John Piasecki from Piasecki Aircraft Corporation presented an interesting talk on their recent developments and also generously sponsored the dinner meeting!
Members can head over to our Members Only page for pictures. It is password protected, so if you are a member and don’t have the password, please email the board.
On Wednesday, January 15th, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Vertical Flight Society held our January Dinner Meeting, featuring a presentation by Philly Red Tails members. We also had an original Tuskegee Airman in presence with us!
Much thanks goes out to the local chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Philly Red Tails for a wonderful evening!
Members can find a gallery from the dinner on our Members Only page.
Thanks to all those who joined us!
The Philadelphia chapter of the Vertical Flight Society held a virtual Lunch N’ Learn presentation on Thursday, December 12th at 12PM ET featuring a presentation by VFS member and Rutgers University Student Team Advisor, Gaylord Olson.
Members can go to the Members Only page to see the presentation.
Note that the Members Only page is password protected. Members should have been sent a password via email when they joined. If you are a member and do not know the password, please contact us.
Join us for our upcoming dinner meeting at Widener University where we will hear from a panel of people from Widener and Penn State!
Check out more info in our Upcoming Events page and to RSVP for the event.
Update your bookmarks, we’ve moved from vfsphilly.org to our new home here within the main VFS site @ vfsphilly.vtol.org!
Please note that as of Feb 15, the old website at vfsphilly.org will NO LONGER be supported. Ensure you update your bookmarks to this site: vfsphilly.vtol.org ASAP!
With any move or renovation, there’s always some dust kicked up, and maybe even things lost, along the way. Please mind our appearance and be patient as we check the migration to our new home! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you find any broken bits!
Weather didn’t stop people from coming out to Wings ‘N Wheels; a long-running outdoor, family focused community event which attracts adults and children for a lively display of vintage and antique cars and aircraft. This event always takes place on the second Saturday in September.
Attendees enjoyed a wide variety of events throughout Wings Field, including a structure constructed by the Boy Scouts; a “Wing Off” competition featuring chicken wings from local restaurants, a Robotics display, different Police K-9 Units, food, music and more!! Lots of kids got to take home their own handheld proprotor and even flew them around the event, courtesy of our group VFS Philly!
Big thanks to our friends at Angel Flight East for this great event! Hope to see even more people out next year!
We had a great turnout for our dinner meeting on Wednesday September 11th, 2024, where Mark Ballew, Senior Director or Vertical Lift Business Development for Boeing Defense, Space & Security led a discussion on Boeing Vertical Lift 2025-2035.