MARINA – Joby Aviation recently announced that it has entered the ultimate phase of certification of its electric air taxi after completing its initial Federal Aviation Administration testing under a kind inspection approval. The company expects to start flight testing for type inspection approval in 2025, with its first FAA-compliant aircraft currently under construction in Marina.
The testing involved Federal Aviation Administration pilots evaluating human aspects of flight safety using an FAA-compliant flight deck in a Joby simulator at Marina.
According to Joby, the kind inspection authorization test is taken into account the ultimate phase of the kind certification process, paving the best way for an aircraft to enter industrial passenger operations. In this phase, FAA test pilots conduct tests to validate an aircraft's performance and safety in line with previously approved certification test plans.
“This milestone demonstrates Joby’s continued industry leadership and reflects the maturity of our testing program and the rigorous corporate testing we have already completed,” JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, said in a press release.
“In addition to continuing credit-based testing of components, aerostructures and systems already underway, we aim to start flight testing with type inspection approval in 2025 with our first FAA-compliant aircraft currently under construction at our facility in Marina, California. “
Joby Aviation has been operating in Marina for about seven years and started producing its aircraft at its pilot production facility there, with the primary aircraft rolling off the assembly line in June 2023.
The type approval approval tests were conducted in line with a set of criteria outlined in an FAA-approved human aspects certification test plan and measured pilot workload under various expected flight conditions, the physical ergonomics of the flight deck, and other human aspects facets of aircraft safety. Four FAA test pilots accomplished the kind approval test for 3 days through the deployment.
Earlier this month, Joby Aviation successfully accomplished static load testing of the tail structure. This is the primary time the corporate has credit tested a big aircraft structure of its aircraft within the presence of FAA officials, the corporate said. The testing took place in Santa Cruz as a part of a rigorous testing campaign that covered all the aircraft's structures, components and systems and provided data obligatory for the aircraft's FAA type certification.
During static load testing, Joby engineers applied loads to the aircraft's tail structure that far exceeded the utmost forces the structure can be expected to experience during flight. The FAA-compliant tail structure utilized in the test, in addition to the test procedure, instrumentation and loads applied, are described in Joby's certification documents, which were approved by the FAA as a part of the certification process.
Joby Aviation has offices and workshops and is headquartered in Santa Cruz with branches in San Carlos, Washington, DC and Munich, Germany. In September 2023, Joby chosen Dayton, Ohio as the placement for its latest manufacturing facility.
In addition to its integrated test laboratory and flight test capabilities, Joby can also be constructing a world-class manufacturing facility in Marina, where the primary of its aircraft rolled out of the pilot production facility in 2023.
In April this yr, Joby broke ground on its latest 220,000 square meter manufacturing facility in Marina, which is predicted to start operations in 2025. The second production aircraft prototype rolling off the corporate's pilot production line provided the backdrop for the groundbreaking ceremony.
The company said the expansion will greater than double Joby Aviation's total footprint at Marina Airport and permit the corporate to deliver 25 aircraft per yr.
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