Archer’s Midnight eVTOL plane aces transition flight with 100+ mph speed
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Archer Aviation, a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced that its Midnight plane successfully completed transition flying at a speed of over 100 mph, Prabhat Ranjan Mishra writes for Interesting Engineering. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
17 June 2024 - Archer, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., notes that a "transition flight occurs when the aircraft takes off vertically like a helicopter, accelerates forward, transitions from thrust-borne to wing-borne flight like an airplane with tilt propellers forward before decelerating and landing vertically."
“Transitioning two generations of full-scale eVTOL aircraft in less than 2 years is another remarkable achievement for Archer’s team. This shows we continue to successfully execute against our plan to create the most efficient path to market with an aircraft that is designed for certification and to be manufactured efficiently at scale,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer’s Founder and CEO. Midnight is now the 7th full-scale eVTOL aircraft that Archer’s CTO, Tom Muniz, and Chief Engineer, Dr. Geoff Bower, have successfully built and flown in their respective careers. Archer’s first generation full-scale eVTOL aircraft, Maker, successfully achieved transition in November, 2022, eleven months after its first flight, and still flies regularly in the company’s flight test program. Just seven months after Midnight’s first flight, Archer has now successfully transitioned its production eVTOL aircraft as the company continues to build momentum towards commercialization.
Related: FAA certifies UAM company Archer to operate as a commercial airline
Related: Korea chooses Archer to help commercialize UAM
Related: Archer receives Part 145 Certification from the FAA
