Campaign Collects Data To Help With Future Concepts

NASA and Joby Aviation teamed up on Monday, August 30th to start the flight testing for Joby’s all-electric takeoff and landing aircraft. This testing will go through Friday, September 10th in Big Sur at Joby’s Electric Flight Base. 

This will mark the first time NASA will test an eVTOL aircraft as part of their Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign. The goal of these tests are to help NASA collect performance and acoustic data for use in future airspace concepts.

“The National Campaign Developmental Testing is an important strategic step in NASA’s goals to accelerate the AAM industry timeline,” said Davis Hackenberg, NASA AAM mission integration manager. “These testing scenarios will help inform gaps in current standards to benefit the industry’s progress of integrating AAM vehicles into the airspace.”

Joby’s eVTOL aircraft is designed to serve as a commercial passenger service in the future. Analyzing the data collected from this mission will aid the AAM National Campaign to execute the first set of campaign tests, known as NC-1, slated for 2022, with more complex flight scenarios and other industry vehicles. NASA will collect information about how the vehicle moves, how the vehicle sounds, and how the vehicle communicates with controllers. 

More than 50 microphones will measure the acoustic profile of Joby’s aircraft at different points in time during the flight.

“NASA’s AAM National Campaign is critical to driving scientific understanding and public acceptance of eVTOL aircraft,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation. “We’re 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.”

FMI: www.nasa.gov/aamnationalcampaign