AHS Advocates on Behalf of Vertical Flight
Aviation Week, “European Rotorcraft Research Moves Into High Gear,” February 13, 2012
“Europe now probably leads the world in green rotorcraft research, and has a well-coordinated and well-funded public-private partnership,” says Michael Hirschberg, executive director of the Washington-based American Helicopter Society International. “Under Clean Sky, the Green Rotorcraft project includes €80 million each from both government and industry/academia. And despite the new austerity in Europe, the EU is continuing to show determined leadership to fund this work.
Defense News, “U.S. Rotorcraft Project to Examine ‘Art of the Possible,’” February 13, 2012 [subscription required]
The Joint Multi-Role (JMR) rotorcraft project, the Pentagon’s first attempt in more than two decades to advance the state of the art in helicopter design, should have initial studies completed this year.
“Joint Multi-Role … they’re kind of looking at the art of the possible,” said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the American Helicopter Society.
AOL Defense, “DoD Strategy, Army Reset Should Bolster Helo, Drone Budgets,” January 23, 2012.
Aviation accounts for only about 7 percent of the Army's personnel but in recent years has consumed 22 percent of the service's research, development and acquisition budget. Even so, helicopter industry and other experts say the Army has invested far too little in developing new and better rotorcraft. Instead, it has used its roughly $8 billion annual aviation acquisition budget mostly to refurbish its existing helicopter fleet and buy more of the same types of aircraft, though in more modern versions.
“The designs are old and many airframes are old, too," Michael Hirschberg, executive director of the American Helicopter Society International, told a January aviation symposium held by the Association of the United States Army (AUSA).
Avionics Magazine, “Through Sand and Fog,” January 1, 2012.
"The military has been dealing with problems of brownout since the first Gulf War in 1991 and Somalia in 1993. Several promising sensor technologies are being developed that could help mitigate brownout accidents, but still nothing has been fielded," said Michael J. Hirschberg, executive director of the American Helicopter Society International. "DoD needs to make this a priority and fund this critical gap appropriately. The cost in lost aircraft alone, not to mention lost lives, would have paid for it many times over."
Aviation Week & Space Technology, “Army Begins Defining Future Vertical-Lift,” September 14, 2011.
“It’s a major breakthrough that we are not flat-lined at $100 million and they have been successful in getting Army leadership to increase S&T funding for the JMR demonstration,” says Michael Hirschberg, executive director of American Helicopter Society (AHS) International, a technical body. “It remains to be seen whether it will be enough to do everything they want the technology demonstrators to do.” . . . With U.S. military rotorcraft production facing a cliff around the end of this decade as procurement programs end, AHS has been campaigning for more investment in technology development to sustain industry capabilities and lay foundations for the next generation. “The Defense Department needs to ensure there is enough funding for the JMR demonstrators to really be relevant,” says Hirschberg. “This is the Pentagon’s one chance to realize a significant advancement in capabilities—they can’t afford to be timid.”
Rotor & Wing, "With Defense Cuts Expected, Are Military Helicopter Programs Safe?," September 1, 2011
“The Defense Department needs to reverse the effects of more than 25 years of inadequate investments in rotorcraft technology,” says AHS Executive Director Michael Hirschberg. What little R&D being funded by DoD are “band-aid solutions rather than new designs,” he adds. Congress is getting the message—sort of. It directed DoD to create a Strategic Plan for the Future of Vertical Lift. But without funding, it is a plan without substance.
The Washington Post, Letter to the Editor, August 13, 2011
The loss of 38 lives in the Aug. 6 downing of [a CH-47D] Chinook in Afghanistan is a tragic exclamation point on the loss of more than 400 helicopters and nearly 600 American lives since Sept. 11, 2001, due to hostile action and mishaps. The toll could have been much less; it reflects, in part, a lack of adequate investments in rotorcraft technology by the Defense Department over the past 25 years....The Pentagon must recognize the importance of vertical flight aircraft in achieving our national military strategy objectives and invest accordingly.
Aviation Week & Space Technology, "Collective Action," Jul 18 , 2011 [subscription required]
“The Defense Department has to show it recognizes the importance of rotorcraft in current and future conflicts and start making serious investments in JMR,” says Michael Hirschberg, executive director of American Helicopter Society International. Speed is one aspect, but there is a larger underlying issue: “Rotorcraft have been doing 95% of the work and getting 5% of the budget,” he argues....
Hirschberg laments the “frustrating lack of implementation” of new technology in the U.S., such as fly-by-wire, because of the lack of new-start development programs. “Fly-by-wire is a technology with a huge payoff for rotorcraft, but less when you retrofit.” At the same time, he attacks the slowness with which the Defense Department has tackled known issues with the safety and survivability of helicopters.
He contrasts the services’ slow and piecemeal response to steep losses of aircraft and crews from crashes when operating in degraded visual environments with the Defense Department’s massive push to counter improvised explosive devices and field more survivable ground vehicles. “How could we send helicopters into Iraq and Afghanistan without addressing brownout—a problem we’ve know about for years? And still nothing’s been fielded. We need somebody in OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] to stand up and say rotorcraft are important to national security and we need to invest in them,” he declares. “High speed can be part of that, too, but there has to be vision and leadership.”
AOLDefense.com, “They Just Got Osama, So Put Your Money Where The Rotors Are," July 7, 2011
“Although there have been significant technology advancements over the past 30 years, military helicopters flying today are, for the most part, derivatives of designs from Vietnam or even earlier," notes Michael Hirschberg, executive director of the American Helicopter Society. "Our military leaders -- and the public -- should demand the same level of technology in their vertical flight assets as they do in their fighters and bombers.”
Wall Street Journal, “Helicopter Manufacturers Develop a Need for Speed,” June 20, 2011 [subscription required]
Sophisticated software, lightweight engines and other new technologies hold promise for hybrid designs that borrow from airplanes, however. "We've made tremendous advances over the past 30 years in computer modeling, composite materials, aircraft controls and our understanding of helicopter physics," says Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the American Helicopter Society International....
Other AHS in the News
Atlanta Business Chronicle, "Straight up -- ‘Technologist’ launches VTOL aircraft startup," September 23, 2011
“A high-speed vertical takeoff and landing aircraft has always been one of the holy grails of aviation,” said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of AHS International, a professional society of engineers and scientists, based in Alexandria, Va., that is dedicated to the advancement of vertical flight technology.
Rotor & Wing, "Top Rotorcraft Engineers Meet at AHS Forum," June 1, 2011
The American Helicopter Society International (AHS), the Alexandria, Va.-based organization for professional helicopter engineers, held its 67th Forum from May 3–5 in Virginia Beach, Va. The combination technology forum, convention and exposition drew 1,200 members from around the world, plus a total of 69 service providers, aircraft manufacturers and component fabricators from all aspects of rotorcraft development.