Joby Aviation Reaches Major Milestone

Marina based air taxi company Joby Aviation announced a major milestone on Tuesday, successfully transitioning from vertical to cruise flight and back again with a pilot on board.

The company says it has remotely piloted more than 40 thousand miles of test flights since 2017, but this is the first time they were able to achieve the transition flight with a pilot on board, that flight happening at the Marina Airport on April 22nd. They have tested several more times since that successful flight, with 3 different pilots. This development making Joby the first company to routinely perform inhabited testing of electric air taxis.

Joby says that their electric air taxi is designed to transport a pilot and 4 passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and none of the emissions. Now, their next goal is working towards final testing in Dubai ahead of a rollout of passenger flights in the region.

This also marks a step towards TIA testing with FAA pilots onboard, getting closer to becoming legal to fly over American cities