Hanneke Weitering is a writer and editor with AIN covering advanced air mobility and new flight technologies. She became an aviation journalist and joined the AIN team in the summer of 2022 after reporting on spaceflight and astronomy for six years at Space.com. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she moved to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in science, health, and environmental reporting at New York University&#039;s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. After spending several years in the Pacific Northwest, she has returned to the Knoxville area.

Science & Technology Editor

The Vertical Flight Society’s Hydrogen-Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (H2eVTOL) Council has spun off into a new independent nonprofit organization known as the Hysky Society.&nbsp;
Formed in May 2020, the H2eVTOL Council has been working to promote and advance the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology for electric aircraft, including eVTOLs. Since then, the council has grown to include more than 1,000 participants from across the aviation industry, Hysky CEO and co-founder Danielle McLean said on January 25&nbsp;during a presentation at the Vertical Flight Society’s (VFS) 10th Biennial Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting and 10th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium, held concurrently this week in Mesa, Arizona.
“We are thrilled to see the H2eVTOL Council, started in May 2020 by VFS member Danielle McLean, now grow and evolve into its own independent organization,” said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of VFS. “The Hysky Society, under Danielle’s leadership, will continue to be a vital partner of the Vertical Flight Society and we look forward to working together to advance the eVTOL industry.”
As an independent 501(c)(3) charitable educational nonprofit, the Hysky society will continue the same line of work as the original H2eVTOL Council, but it “will now have the autonomy and resources to expand its reach and impact,” VFS said in a statement.&nbsp;
In addition to advocating for hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy source for the aviation industry, the Hysky society will do public outreach work to educate the general population about the benefits of hydrogen-powered eVTOL aircraft and how they can shape the future of transportation, according to VFS.
Monthly meetings that were previously held by the H2eVTOL Council will continue to be held on the third Monday of every month, but the meetings will henceforth be referred to as “Hysky Monthly.” The Hysky society is now accepting new members. Those interested in joining can sign up via Hysky’s <a href="https://www.hysky.org/plans-pricing">website</a>. The organization is also accepting donations.&nbsp;
The Hysky society will also host an event on June 21-23 called “Flying Hy.” The event, which will be held virtually, will have more than 1,000 participants and 100 presentations, “and we’ll bring together all the pieces of the ecosystem,” McLean said.
To enable hydrogen-powered aviation, “There are six ‘buckets’ essentially that need to come together to make this happen, and of course, the big one in the middle is the aircraft,” McLean explained. “You look at your mission profile that's going to tell you how big, how heavy, how far, how fast, how often, and then that's going to size your fuel cell. That's going to tell you how much hydrogen you need, which is going to inform the refueling station, how much hydrogen they need, how much hydrogen needs to be transported, produced, et cetera,” she said. “So, it all needs to really be focused around that mission profile. And that's what Hysky society is. We bring that ecosystem together to focus on the aircraft and bring hydrogen aviation to fruition.”

Hanneke Weitering

The Hysky society will work to promote the development of hydrogen-powered eVTOL aircraft. (Image: Hysky Society)

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