Joby completes first FAA testing on major aircraft aerostructure

Joby Aviation, Inc., a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced it has completed a landmark series of major aerostructure tests for certification credit with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Joby has successfully completed static load testing of the tail structure, marking the first time the Company has tested a major aerostructure of its aircraft for-credit with FAA representatives present. The tests took place in Santa Cruz, CA, as part of a rigorous testing campaign covering all of the structures, components, and systems on the aircraft, producing data that is required for FAA type certification of the aircraft.

“Completing for-credit static load testing on a major aircraft structure marks an important step towards certification of the Joby aircraft and we’re very pleased with the results. Reaching this milestone is the culmination of years of hard work across the engineering, testing, certification, and manufacturing teams at Joby,” said Didier Papadopoulos, President of Aircraft OEM at Joby.

“Our vertically-integrated approach to aircraft development gives us the capability to design, build, and test entire aerostructures in-house, providing Joby with a strong foundation to rapidly and efficiently continue to bring innovative technologies to market.”

During the tests, Joby engineers applied loads to the aircraft's tail structure that far exceed the maximum forces the structure is expected to experience during flight. The FAA-conforming tail structure used in the test, along with the test procedure, instrumentation, and applied loads, are outlined in Joby's certification documents, which have been approved by the FAA as part of the certification process.

Joby’s electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.