Archer Continues March Toward Commercialization

Archer Aviation’s second full-scale eVTOL aircraft Midnight successfully completed its transition flight on June 8. In the eVTOL industry, transition flight is a well-known benchmark that is difficult to achieve. 

It occurs when the aircraft takes off vertically like a helicopter (hover), transitions into wing-borne forward flight as the engines tilt forward and flies like an airplane. As it approaches its destination it decelerates, the engines tilt upward and the craft lands like a helicopter. The process is similar to that seen with the US military’s tiltrotor V-22 Osprey operation.

Midnight’s gross takeoff weight is about 6,500 pounds, making it one of the largest and heaviest eVTOL aircraft to achieve transition flight, a maneuver crucial for transporting commercially viable passenger payloads.

Midnight is slated to continue its piloted flight test program flying simulated commercial routes showing the aircraft’s operational readiness. 

The program will also test additional flight maneuvers and high rates of flight operations likely to be used in the commercial realm.

The goal of the program is to offer urban commuters the opportunity to replace drives that typically take 60-90 minutes with shorter 10-20 minute flights in electric air taxis. Such flights would be safe, low-noise, sustainable, and competitive with the cost of ground transportation. Midnight is designed as a piloted four-passenger aircraft capable of rapid flights with minimal time for recharging between flights.

FMI: www.archer.com