Category Filtering: 'vectored-thrust'
In the year since Joby Aviation saw its valuation pass the $1B mark — known as a unicorn — the company has become more public in its quest to become first to market in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi market. The recent release of photos and video showing the Joby Generation 2.0 aircraft hovering and in wingborne flight highlights the continuing advances in the aircraft’s flight test program.
Recognizing the need for fast, economical, point-to-point cargo and logistics transportation, VerdeGo Aero in Daytona Beach, FL and XTI Aircraft Company in Denver, CO have partnered together on the TriFan 200 program. XTI Aircraft, a leader in next-generation VTOL aircraft, is developing the TriFan 200, a configuration similar to its larger TriFan 600 VTOL passenger aircraft already under development.
The city of Orlando, Florida, along with the Tavistock Development Company and Lilium, announced on Nov. 11, 2020, that Lake Nona — adjacent to Orlando International Airport (MCO) — would be the site of what it called the first eVTOL vertiport in the world.
In October, Joby ... filed six patent applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), part of a total of 14 patents filed in 2020.
For the past 11 years, Joby Aviation has been on a quest to develop the ultimate electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, but few details of the company’s aircraft and progress have been shared with the public.
That changed in January when Joby stepped out of the shadows and released images of the production version of its all-electric, five-seat tiltrotor in conjunction with the announcement of a $590M Series C financing that brought the company’s total funding, including previous rounds, to $720M.
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Despite more than 70 years of vertical flight development, there are only three operational types of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft today: helicopters, the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor and the AV-8B Harrier jump jet. It could be argued that VTOL aircraft went through its period of rapid experimentation, and like commercial transports, settled on the configuration that offered the best approach.
