AAM - Joby med eVTOL på Edwards AFB - Future Flight

 

Det spesielle med dette bildet er flyene i bakgrunnen. Jeg kan ikke banne på det, men B-47`en tror jeg at jeg så på NAS Barbers Point på Hawaii i mars -69. Den var fotofly for filmingen av filmen Tora, Tora, Tora og fløy rett over oss da vi taxet inn med en norsk P-3B. (Red.)

Joby's five-seat eVTOL air taxi is pictured at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (Photo: Joby)

JOBY DELIVERS FIRST EVTOL AIRCRAFT TO U.S. AIR FORCE

·        HANNEKE WEITERING

·        SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Joby Aviation has delivered an air taxi to the Edwards Air Force Base in California about six months ahead of schedule, marking the first-ever delivery of an eVTOL aircraft to a paying customer in the U.S., the company announced Monday. 

This is the first of up to nine eVTOL aircraft that Joby intends to supply to the U.S. Air Force under its $131 million Afwerx Agility Prime contract. The second delivery is on track to arrive in early 2024, Joby executive chairman Paul Sciarra said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Edwards on Monday morning. 

“Today's delivery of a Joby aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base marks the culmination of seven years of a very significant public-private partnership between Joby Aviation in the Department of Defense,” Sciarra said. “It's a partnership that over time has extended across a wide range of stakeholders, including the Defense Innovation Unit, Afwerx Agility Prime, NASA, the Air Force, the Marines, and many others. 

“The early interest that the DoD showed in Joby's capabilities had a profound impact on our company and, from my perspective, the future of electric flight here in the U.S.,” he added. “Today's delivery is a hugely significant moment for Joby and for our industry—but more than that, it's a validation of the long-term vision of the Department of Defense.”

 

Joby's eVTOL air taxi was sling-loaded by helicopter to Edwards Air Force Base, as the experimental aircraft did not have FAA authorization to fly across California. (The original image has been modified for fit using generative AI software.) (Photo: James West/USAF)​​​​

The U.S. Air Force, which is exploring defense applications for eVTOL aircraft, granted military airworthiness approval for Joby’s five-seat eVTOL aircraft in December 2020. Since then, USAF test pilots have had several opportunities to take the aircraft out for a spin at Joby’s flight testing facilities in Marina, California, where the company has set up a pilot production plant. Last week, Joby announced plans to build a scaled production facility in Dayton, Ohio. 

Now the military will begin testing flight operations with the aircraft on base, where it will be used to demonstrate “a range of logistics missions, including cargo and passenger transportation,” according to Joby. The USAF will also take the opportunity to train its pilots and maintenance personnel on eVTOL aircraft and their operations. 

“Agility Prime’s stated objective in 2020 was to work towards an operational capability for transformative vertical lift in the DoD by 2023. The arrival of Joby’s aircraft at Edwards AFB is an important step towards achieving this objective,” said Col. Elliott Leigh, Afwerx director and chief commercialization officer for the Air Force.