E-VTOL Flight Test Council

Origins

In conjunction with the Society of Flight Test Engineers, VFS started the E-VTOL Flight Test Council in 2020. The Council celebrated its 5-year anniversay in 2025.

Charter

The council is an open forum for flight testers of electric and hybrid aircraft of all types and novel vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Deliberations cover configurations, the spectrum of sizes, categories, classes, payload/passenger combinations, and piloting options. The council‘s mission is to promote flight test safety, efficiency, and knowledge for electric and VTOL development, certification, and qualification. The spirit is to advance knowledge through reciprocal contribution of non-proprietary information. The means is to openly collaborate on best practices and to share all council discussions, papers, and recordings across three mutually beneficial areas: 

Safety

• General flight test planning and execution to reduce risk to the lowest practical levels.
• Detailed hazards and mitigations specific to electric aircraft flight testing.
• Flight test considerations for new-paradigm safety assessments and failure probability calculations.

Rulemaking/Standards

• Serve as a resource where flight testers have pertinent knowledge that might influence separate rulemaking bodies.
• Propose harmonized and safer means of compliance.

Efficiency

• Review common resources such as test facilities, ranges, and training
• Flight test equipment design/interface standards (e.g. instrumentation, recovery chutes)
• Data analysis and presentation methods
• Common failure mode demonstrations
• Promulgate DoD and civil test techniques specific to electric aircraft and components. Includes flight test techniques (FTTs) appropriate to piloted vs. remote pilot vs. autonomous.

Operationally, this all-volunteer council will:

• Without requiring individual membership in any specific organization, work jointly with interested professional societies to share information in both directions. 
• Encourage members to present and publish formal technical papers through their chosen organization and will disseminate links to those papers.
• Promote various digital, virtual, or in-person collaboration forums for discussions.
• Manage a repository for unpublished papers, internal discussions, guidelines, and other content germane to electric and powered-lift flight testing. 
• Promote collegiate and technical talent networking.