Vertical Flight Society | UK Chapter
Welcome to our web pages!
We are honoured to present the Chapter Awards 2025 to the following individuals: Furqan Afzal (Sora Aviation), Rob Ashley (QinetiQ), and Mike Overd (Leonardo Helicopters)!
Join us in celebration at Hill Helicopters on 27 February 2026 during our Chapter Event 2026!
Last-minute booking is available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-and-flying-private-helicopters-tickets-1977715901500
The Vertical Flight Society UK Chapter is delighted to announce our Chapter Event 2026! Join us at Hill Helicopters on 27 February 2026 for an engaging day of insightful presentations by world-renowned experts. Don’t miss this opportunity to help shape the future of our chapter and the UK rotorcraft community!
Places are limited as usual. Secure your spot now—booking is open on Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-and-flying-private-helicopters-tickets-1977715901500
The Vertical Flight Society UK Chapter is delighted to announce our Chapter Event 2025! Join us in London on 28 February 2025 for an engaging day of insightful presentations by world-renowned experts in rotorcraft simulation. Don’t miss this opportunity to help shape the future of our chapter and the UK rotorcraft community!
Places are limited as usual. Secure your spot now—booking is open on Eventbrite:
On 20th November 2024, Prof Antonio Filippone of the University of Manchester delivered a webinar on aerial firefighting using helicopters. This is part of the Vertical Flight Society UK Chapter seminar series 2024.
Fighting fires is done increasingly for the air by using a variety of assets, because of accessibility, extent of the fires and urgency. Fires now affect regions of the world that are not associated to extreme heat waves, including northern Canada, arctic Russia, and Siberia. The firefighting fleet is made of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, most of which are converted from other uses. There is a very limited number of vehicles specifically designed for firefighting, but no helicopter. All helicopters are converted from other types of missions.
This webinar reviewed the role and characteristics of the helicopters used today, and makes an assessment on response time, drop of retardants, cycle, and overall cost. A novel aspect is the analysis of flight tracking data. ADS-B data have been collected and analysed for several vehicles and fire incidents across. Flight tracks indicate patterns of cycles, duration, speeds, altitudes and returning to base. The data can be used to learn about performance, effectiveness of firefighting techniques, risks to flight safety, and direct operating costs.
Find out the seminar recording on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMgB2raj4EI
More seminars are planned for the near future. Please stay tuned for our media!
Only two weeks to go! Join us at the VFS-UK Annual Chapter Event on 23 February in London for talks on helicopter flight tests and exciting updates on new eVTOL start-ups. Join us in celebrating the VFS-UK Award Ceremony and learn about the career highlights of our esteemed lifetime achievement awardees. Stay tuned, book your dates and trips now!
Each year, the Vertical Flight Society-UK Chapter presents annual Chapter Awards to celebrate the UK rotorcraft community’s past, present, and future.
We are honoured to present the Chapter Awards 2023 for the following individuals:
Dmitrij Usov (University of Manchester),
Richard E Brown (Sophrodyne Aerospace),
Bryan Finlay (Dstl), and Jeremy Graham (Leonardo Helicopters).
Join us in celebrating their extraordinary achievements at the award ceremony during our Annual Chapter Event at the Royal Airforce Club in London, on 23 Feb 2024. !
The Vertical Flight Society-UK Chapter is organising the Annual Chapter Event 2024 on the 23rd of Feb, 2024. This year, in addition to invited talks by experts in the rotorcraft field and ceremony for chapter awards, we will also hear some exciting announcements during the event.
Stay tuned and book your dates!
This event will be held at the historical Royal Air Force Club in London. All VFS members living or working in the UK are cordially invited to participate. If you haven’t booked your place, please be quick as tickets are selling out. You can use the Eventbrite below:
Vertical Flight Society – UK Chapter Annual Event Tickets, Fri 23 Feb 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite
The Vertical Flight Society-UK Chapter is organising the Annual Chapter Event 2024 on the 23rd of Feb, 2024. The event is structured around invited talks by experts in the rotorcraft field. It is also an excellent opportunity to discuss and shape the future of our chapter and future activities.
This event will be held at the historical Royal Air Force Club in London. All VFS members living or working in the UK are cordially invited to participate.
Book your place and save the date now through Eventbrite at
Vertical Flight Society – UK Chapter Annual Event Tickets, Fri 23 Feb 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite
Please follow our social media for updates and agenda (tbc).
