West Chester's American Helicopter Museum & Education Center will honor the team behind the world's first piloted hydrogen-powered helicopter flight with its 2026 Achievement Award on Sunday, Oct. 18.

The museum announced Wednesday, Sept. 9, that it selected the team from Unither Bioélectronique, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, and Robinson Helicopter Company for the annual prize. The ceremony will double as the museum's 30th anniversary celebration at 1220 American Blvd.

"This year it was evident that the hydrogen-powered helicopter team was the clear choice," Dan Newman, chairman of the museum's board of trustees, said in the announcement.

The honored achievement: swapping the conventional Lycoming piston engine in a Robinson R44 helicopter for a hydrogen fuel-cell system, a lithium-ion battery pack and an electric motor. The modified R44 completed its first piloted flight on March 27, 2025, according to Vertical Mag. Roughly 90 percent of the energy used during that flight came from the hydrogen fuel cells, according to Mikaël Cardinal, vice president of program management at Unither Bioélectronique.

The program is called Project Proticity.

On April 10, the same aircraft completed the world's first piloted hydrogen-electric helicopter circuit flight at Roland-Désourdy Airport in Bromont, Quebec, with test pilot Ric Webb at the controls. In a May 7 statement, Cardinal said the milestone "shows that piloted hydrogen-electric vertical flight can move from theory to repeatable, safe, real-world testing."

The award is not the first time the museum has recognized this line of work. In 2019, the museum gave the same prize to United Therapeutics CEO Martine Rothblatt and Tier 1 Engineering for an electric-powered R44 that earned a Guinness World Record for the farthest flight by an electric helicopter, according to the museum's award history page.

Established in 2009, the Achievement Award goes annually to an individual or organization that advanced vertical flight during the preceding year. Past recipients include the Mars Ingenuity helicopter team and the AeroVelo human-powered helicopter team.

The museum opened Oct. 18, 1996, and draws about 35,000 visitors a year. Ticket and registration details for the gala have not been published. Residents can call (610) 436-9600 or visit helicoptermuseum.org for updates.