Two super interesting Joby flights today! I'm writing this from Amsterdam Intertraffic conference where I'm speaking about Advanced Air Mobility, but I'll take a few moments out to share.
First flight for N547JX
Joby tours the Bay Area, landing at Oakland
Merch site!
First hover tests
Joby recently produced its first “conforming” aircraft today - that is to say a Joby S4 built to the exact standards of the design that FAA approved. It's a critical step towards certification.
Over the last few days, it's been showing up on ADSB, ground activity, being turned on in a hangar, a few weeks back we even saw a test of the altimeter. Recently the SkyZero algorithm started classifying activity as “hover”- my hopes that this was correct were confirmed this morning when Joby announced their first hover test.
https://x.com/i/status/2031838529052164598
Why does it show negative altitude? This isn't uncommon close to the ground. Barometric altimeters can be impacted by changes in barometric pressure.
Joby tours the Bay Area
N545JX made its way through nice VFR weather to Bonny Doon, stopping long enough to charge one assumes, then on to Half Moon Bay. After another top up they took off from Half Moon Bay and made what was likely a beautiful tour of the Golden Gate bridge and the Bay area before landing at Oakland.
So much about this is great of course, but we are adding two new airports to Joby’s growing list, and one of them is a busy international airport.
I can only assume this means FAA is extending more and more trust.
Swag!
Joby also launched a merch site today. No Lego kits I'm afraid (Electra is a tough act to follow!) but they have some really cool branded clothing.
https://shop.jobyaviation.com/
Apparently there's something happening where you might get free socks in your order? This will take me more research to explain, but something about Archer trying to show Joby imported important equipment from China and it turned out to be socks for the merch store? If any readers can explain this correctly I would be in your debt.
Just ordered, waiting for my free socks. 😁