At the end of August,
NASA began flight testing with
Joby Aviation’s all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as part of the agency’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign. This testing ran through until 10 September at Joby’s ‘Electric Flight Base’ near Big Sur, California.
This was the first time that NASA has tested an eVTOL aircraft as part of the campaign. In the future, eVTOL aircraft could serve as air taxis in cities and surrounding areas, adding another mode of transportation for moving people and goods.
NASA’s goal is to collect vehicle performance and acoustic data for use in modelling and simulation of future airspace concepts. This test will help identify gaps in current Federal Aviation Administration regulations and policies to help incorporate AAM aircraft into the National Airspace System. This multi-event campaign to advance airspace mobility in the USA will take place at multiple locations over several years.
Davis Hackenberg, NASA’s AAM mission integration manager, said: “The National Campaign Developmental Testing is an important step in NASA’s goals to accelerate the AAM industry timeline. These testing scenarios will help inform gaps in current standards to benefit the industry’s progress of integrating AAM vehicles into the airspace.”
JoeBen Bevirt, Joby Aviation’s founder and CEO, added: “NASA’s AAM National Campaign is critical to driving scientific understanding and public acceptance of eVTOL aircraft. We are incredibly proud to have worked closely with NASA on electric flight over the past 10 years and to be the first eVTOL company to fly as part of the campaign.”
AAM is an aviation system that encompasses developing and deploying aviation in innovative ways not typically seen today. The AAM National Campaign is managed by NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility project, which plans to be a community catalyst for developing and validating system-level concepts and solutions for AAM. The AAM project is a part of the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.