Joby Aviation Achieves Major eVTOL Milestone
- Editor OGN Daily
- May 1
- 1 min read
Joby has become the first company to fly an all-electric tilt-rotor eVTOL with a pilot aboard as it transitioned from horizontal to vertical flight and back again.
As a result, Joby's S4 prototype looks to be on track for FAA certification. The all-electric, six-rotor eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies forward like a fixed-wing aircraft has been under development by the California-based aerospace company since it was founded in 2009. The prototype has been making uncrewed test flights since 2017, clocking up 40,000 miles in the air.
Already under evaluation by the US Air Force, the S4 is now seeking FAA approval with an eye toward beginning commercial operations later this year. During April, the aircraft has made multiple tests with three different pilots at the controls.
"Achieving this milestone is hugely significant for Joby," said Didier Papadopolous, President of Aircraft OEM at Joby. "It not only demonstrates the high level of confidence we have in the performance of the aircraft as we prepare for commercial service in Dubai, it also paves the way to starting TIA flight testing with FAA pilots onboard.
"We have taken a very methodical approach to achieving this long-planned milestone, with an immense amount of testing, both in the air and on the ground, helping form a solid foundation that allowed us to move from one historic flight to routine pilot-on-board transitions almost overnight."
The advent of eVTOL flight has resulted in America's first new aircraft category since the 1940s, with the US FAA has issuing new regulations that introduce "power-lift" aircraft.
