Joby Aircraft Tests eVTOL Noise Profile with NASA

Joby Aviation, a developer of electric aircraft for commuter use announced on 10 May 2022, that they had successfully demonstrated a low noise profile as confirmed with testing by NASA in California.

Joby Aviation’s test bird traveling at 100kts apparently met the low-noise targets it had set, allegedly something in the vicinity of 45.2dBA at an altitude of 1640ft. A noise level it [Joby] “believes will barely be perceptible against the ambient environment of cities.”

We’re told that the aircraft can carry four people a distance of 150miles on a single charge at a maximum speed of 200mph.

According to Joby Aviation, the test involved making six passes over a grid array of 50+ omni-directional microphones and subsequently processed by NASA into an ‘acoustic hemisphere’ that was representative of sound emissions below the aircraft at a 100ft radius.

 That was followed by more processing to arrive at that magical number of 45.2dBA.

The author expects you are well aware of the typical noise level of a city as starkly different from what one might expect in the country, and furthermore, even within the city scape, time of day, terrain, commuter traffic, and even which way the wind blows are but a few factors influencing the ‘perception of noise’.

Hopefully ongoing efforts to reduce ‘noise pollution’ shows measurable outcomes, even in the quietest of places!

FMI: https://jobyaviation.com