Air Force Receives Its First Electric Air Taxi (nytimes.com) 32
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: The Air Force said on Monday that it had received its first electric passenger aircraft capable of taking off and landing vertically, a milestone for the companies that hope to one day sell thousands of such vehicles to serve as air taxis. Joby Aviation, an air taxi start-up, delivered the aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, where the first supersonic flight took place. Air taxis are typically powered by batteries and designed to lift off and land like helicopters, but include wings to fly like airplanes. Joby, which is based in Santa Cruz, Calif., said that its electric aircraft is substantially quieter than helicopters or planes. Each can carry one pilot and four passengers and travel as fast as 200 miles per hour and as far as 100 miles, according to the company.
The delivery is the first under an Air Force contract that Joby said was valued at up to $131 million and gives the government the option to receive up to nine aircraft. The Air Force and Joby will operate the vehicle, but Joby will still own the aircraft and receive both fixed and variable payments for hours flown. NASA, which has a facility at the base, will also conduct research on the vehicle. The Air Force has signed similar contracts with other air taxi companies under a program called Agility Prime, part of a broader effort to promote innovation. Agility Prime's mission is to support development of air taxis and similar technology, giving the Air Force a head start in exploring how it might use such aircraft while also providing financial and testing support to the air taxi companies.
At Edwards Air Force Base, Joby's aircraft will be tested as a means to transport cargo and people. The vehicles could also be used to monitor the expansive base or tested to conduct medical evacuations, for example. All told, the Air Force has more than 100 performance measures it wants to evaluate, said Beau Griffith, the deputy lead of Agility Prime. "Bearing out the promise of these vehicles is the program's goal," he said. NASA will work closely with the military and Joby in testing the aircraft, with the aim of using its research to guide air taxi development and support the F.A.A. Starting next year, NASA pilots and researchers will explore how Joby's vehicle would operate in a typical city environment, examining flight procedures and how it could interact with air traffic control and local infrastructure. Joby's aircraft is expected to remain at the base for at least a year, and the company has plans to deliver another in 2024.
The delivery is the first under an Air Force contract that Joby said was valued at up to $131 million and gives the government the option to receive up to nine aircraft. The Air Force and Joby will operate the vehicle, but Joby will still own the aircraft and receive both fixed and variable payments for hours flown. NASA, which has a facility at the base, will also conduct research on the vehicle. The Air Force has signed similar contracts with other air taxi companies under a program called Agility Prime, part of a broader effort to promote innovation. Agility Prime's mission is to support development of air taxis and similar technology, giving the Air Force a head start in exploring how it might use such aircraft while also providing financial and testing support to the air taxi companies.
At Edwards Air Force Base, Joby's aircraft will be tested as a means to transport cargo and people. The vehicles could also be used to monitor the expansive base or tested to conduct medical evacuations, for example. All told, the Air Force has more than 100 performance measures it wants to evaluate, said Beau Griffith, the deputy lead of Agility Prime. "Bearing out the promise of these vehicles is the program's goal," he said. NASA will work closely with the military and Joby in testing the aircraft, with the aim of using its research to guide air taxi development and support the F.A.A. Starting next year, NASA pilots and researchers will explore how Joby's vehicle would operate in a typical city environment, examining flight procedures and how it could interact with air traffic control and local infrastructure. Joby's aircraft is expected to remain at the base for at least a year, and the company has plans to deliver another in 2024.
I need a Joby! (Score:2)
Sorry. I'm Scottish. [urbandictionary.com] Couldn't resist...
Quieter, greener, modified helicopter. (Score:2)
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Woopty-fucking-doo.
You're missing the point. Quieter and greener are nice, but the game changer is that it's much cheaper than a real helicopter.
This is something that normal people can afford and they'll be even more affordable once they go pilotless. I can see a high demand for these air taxis for people to go from SF to SJ without sitting for two hours in rush-hour traffic.
Here's a non-paywalled article [flyingmag.com].
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I'd rather ride on an electrified Caltrain than in some silly new-fangled flyin' machine.
Caltrain takes over an hour to travel 48 miles from SF to SJ.
And that only gets you to Diridon Station. Then you need to take an Uber or bus to other parts of the city, which sprawls over 180 square miles.
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I am not looking forward to flying cars. No sir. I see plenty of idiots on the roads already. Imagine what it will be like when those idiots take to the air. Nope. Time to hide in the cave and call this evolution thing a bad idea.
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I agree with you 100%. Give me a train any day. It doesn't even have to be a fast train. I can book my own state room and watch the world go by. Really trains, it's not the destination, it's the journey.
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I don't think it's meant to replace trains. It's not something you would use to commute to work, unless you are very very rich. It's not a mainstream form of transportation. It will be way too expensive for that.
It's a replacement for helicopters. A cheaper, faster, cleaner, quieter replacement, but still a specialized vehicle for special applications.
Re:Quieter, greener, modified helicopter. (Score:4, Interesting)
A lot of people don't remember this, but there was a whole generation of ultralight copters. You might have seen a few in movies from the '60s and '70s. Damn things fell out of the sky like zapped bugs, and they simply don't exist anymore because of that.
Maybe improvements in autonomous software and electronic control will resolve that. But that's a big IF.
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there was a whole generation of ultralight copters.
They were very difficult to fly. Even more so than conventional helicopters.
Maybe improvements in autonomous software and electronic control will resolve that. But that's a big IF.
No, it's a done deal. Quadcopters are dead simple to fly. Ask anyone who has a drone. And brushless motors are extremely reliable.
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Then there must be another reason why literally none of the human-scale rotorcraft in service in civilian or military anywhere in the world are quadcopters, despite designers being well aware of the concept since the beginning of helicopter technology. Brushless motors are not new either.
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Helicopters can autorotate, but multirotors can't.
What I am most curious about is the downwash. There is no way to eliminate rotor downwash, and if you ha
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I would guess also the complexity of having drive trains for multiple rotors is very high. That kind of goes away with electric motors.
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>>What do you suppose has taken so long to get to a point of practicality with this stuff?
Lightweight batteries!
csw
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Parking garages. Joby already has agreements with the owners of a ton of parking garages - the top floor makes a pretty descent helipad, and access to power for "refueling". For total failures I think they are packing a parachute - which will make them about equivalent to an autorotating helicopter (both need a minimum height to get working).
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I can see a real application for these in a medevac roll. Quieter when picking up casualties near a conflict. Not to mention that they probably don't have the heat signature of a turbine powered helicopter for Stinger-type missiles to lock onto.
Use them around Edwards with military pilots who think about these issues. Get some input into future development while getting some use out of them as air taxis.
To Sum Up (Score:3)
Electric quad copter. Also installing "L3" DC fast charging at Duke Field in Florida.
Yes, they use the term L3 in the article [af.mil]. This is a 480V, 400A supercharger.
The AFRL article has more useful info.
A new era (Score:2)
Don't get me wrong, I love new tech like this.
But I have to wonder who the first service member will be to go down in one of these things.
Itâ(TM)s just Federal funding under a differe (Score:5, Interesting)
The Air Force never has to fly the Joby once, nor does NASA. It can be a hangar queen. It doesnâ(TM)t matter. What matters to Joby, and in some part, the USAF, is funneling federal funds into building the Joby factory in Dayton, OH, a city which only exists today by virtue of the DoD presence there.
There was no way this deal would have happened if Joby was going to manufacture these in some random city or state. The Air Force is just pumping this money into the local economy. The EVTOLs themselves are just funding vessels. Whether or not they fly or crash or whatever is immaterial. Regardless, itâ(TM)s fine by me.