National AAM Center of Excellence officially opens

The National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence (NAAMCE) officially opened in Springfield, Ohio September 18, 2023.
Photo Credit: CompositesWorld (all photos)

The Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport (Springfield, Ohio) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence (NAAMCE) September 18, 2023. The 30,000-square-foot building includes hangar space, as well as administrative and laboratory space, all designed to facilitate collaboration between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Ohio Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center, NASA, and industry and academia in support of advanced air mobility (AAM) projects including the development of new electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The project was funded by $9 million in investments from the Department of Defense, JobsOhio and the city of Springfield and seeks to make the area, which is in close proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the AFRL, a hub for AAM R&D activity.

The NAAMCE ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by members of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and officials from state and federal government regulatory agencies.

The ribbon cutting was commemorated by the second annual National Advanced Air Mobility Industry Forum, which included tours of the new NAAMCE, flight simulations and demonstrations from aviation and technology companies including Joby Aviation (Santa Cruz, Calif., U.S.), Elroy Air (South San Francisco, Calif., U.S.), Opener Aero (Hunitington Beach, Calif., U.S.) and others.

“We need access to American ingenuity, to the type of companies you see exhibited here,” said Col. Elliott Leigh, director of AFWERX, the innovation arm of the AFRL devoted to developing emerging technologies for defense and providing pathways for commercial applications.

Opener Aero’s BlackFly eVTOL was one of numerous AAM technologies on display at the National Advanced Air Mobility Industry Forum.

The two-day forum included a day of panel discussions and networking sessions designed to foster collaboration between agencies, manufacturers and suppliers. Participants and attendees included members of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), AFWERX, NASA, and officials from state and federal government regulatory agencies. A large focus of the event was on developing AAM infrastructure and setting a clear path toward aircraft certification, pilot training and establishing safety protocols and regulatory guidelines for operation.

“We believe with the assets we have, we can build the first AAM traffic management system,” said Ohio State Representative Adam Holmes (R), Chairman of the Aviation and Aerospace Committee. “We’re unified and we’re moving forward.”

The celebration was coordinated with an announcement by Joby Aviation that it will build a new eVTOL manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio that hopes to produce up to 500 aircraft per year and bring 2,000 jobs to the area.