Joby Aviation’s Air Taxi Receives Approval for Flight Testing
According to a press release, Joby Aviation has received approval from the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) to commence flight tests on its initial production prototype air taxi. This milestone brings the company closer to its goal of delivering the eVTOL aircraft (electric vertical takeoff and landing) to customers by 2024 and establishing an air taxi service by 2025.
“The jet is now undergoing initial flight testing before being delivered to Edwards Air Force Base, California, where it will be used to demonstrate various potential logistics use cases,” Joby wrote.
The plane can take off and land like a helicopter, then tilt its six rotors horizontally and fly like an airplane at speeds up to 200 MPH. It is designed to carry the pilot and four passengers up to 100 miles on a charge – enough range for most air taxi operations. Meanwhile, Joby claims it is nearly silent in cruise mode and 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing.
Joby’s first production prototype recently rolled off the company’s assembly line in Marina, California. The factory was built in cooperation with Toyota, which is Joby’s largest investor with a stake of 394 million dollars. To strengthen this relationship, Joby announced the appointment of Toyota North America executive Tetsuo (Ted) Ogawa to the board.
With a special FAA certificate of airworthiness in hand, Joby can conduct flight tests of full-scale production aircraft following full-scale prototype tests that began in 2017. In May of last year, the company received another important permit, the FAA’s Part 135 airline. certificate for commercial activity. It recently partnered with Delta Air Lines to offer rides to and from airports, and its website shows the scenario of flying from downtown NYC to JFK Airport in just seven minutes, compared to 49 minutes by car.
Now, Joby must clear its biggest hurdle with full FAA type and production certification before it can take paying passengers on commercial flights. That’s probably about 18 months away, Mike Hirschberg, an aerospace engineer and director of the Vertical Flight Society, told New Scientist. Its first customer would be the US Air Force as part of a $131 million contract under the military’s Agility Prime program, with deliveries scheduled for 2024.
All of this puts the company tantalizingly close to offering a true air taxi service, something that has so far eluded many other manufacturers. Last year, Larry Page-backed Kittyhawk was shut down, and other companies like Ehang, Archer, Volocopter and even Airbus are not as far behind as Joby. “This first aircraft coming off our pilot production line is a really, really big deal for the company,” Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt told TechCrunch.
