A Vertical Flight Society (VFS) SoCal Summer Seminar and Meeting
Thursday, August 15th, 2024 at 6:00 PM
at the Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Airport
Presentation by Dr. Mark Tischler, Tischler Aeronautics, Retired U.S. Army Senior Technologist and Senior Scientist
The VFS SoCal Chapter will host it’s first SoCal Summer Seminar on “Rotorcraft Flight Control Technology Advancements and Future Challenges” by Dr. Mark Tischler, Retd. US Army Sr. Technologist and Sr. Scientist, and founder of Tischler Aeronautics, at the Western Museum of Flight, Torrance Airport on Thursday, August 15th at 6:00 PM. Dinner will be served, and the museum will be open for all attendees. Come learn about the future of rotorcraft flight controls, the SoCal chapter, and see some exciting aircraft at the museum!
In his lecture “Rotorcraft flight control technology advancements and future challenges (an update),” Dr. Tischler first summarizes the key flight control design drivers that distinguish rotorcraft from their fixed-wing counterparts. The second part of his presentation reviews the key advancements in flight control technology over the past 50 years. Dr. Tischler researched the literature extensively to ensure that his presentation would cover both the activities of the Army and their research partners as well the contributions of the many other research organizations worldwide that together have effected a “sea change” in how flight control systems for rotorcraft are developed. In the next part of his lecture, Dr. Tischler considers the flight control challenges for future rotorcraft concepts, including the Army’s Future Vertical Lift, autonomous air systems (UAS) based on existing piloted rotorcraft, and eVTOL multicopter configurations (often referred to as drones in the popular media) for package delivery and air taxi (UAM — Urban Air Mobility). This updated section shows how the flight control technologies of the past 50 years are applied to address the challenges of these new configurations – and includes the most recent research accomplishments. Finally, Dr. Tischler presents his own personal thoughts on some keys to flight control research advancements and some broader thoughts on lessons learned as a career-long flight control engineer and senior technologist. Key messages of this last section are the importance of collaboration, technology transfer, and mentors throughout one’s career.