Editor’s observe: A earlier model of this story said within the headline that Archer achieved “ahead” flight fairly than “cruise” flight. This has been corrected and we remorse the error.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., – Archer Aviation Inc. mentioned its Maker prototype eVTOL plane made its first transition from a vertical takeoff, powered-lift mode of flight to totally wingborne ahead flight. The plane made the vital transition lower than 12 months after its first hovering flight, the corporate mentioned, Jonathan Welsh studies for Flying. Continue reading original article.
The Army & Aerospace Electronics take:
6 December 2022 – Reaching this full transition milestone is vital to validating the flight physics of Archer’s proprietary 12-tilt-6 propeller configuration that it makes use of on Maker in addition to Midnight, which is the plane Archer lately unveiled at its Open Home on November sixteenth and is working to certify with the FAA in late 2024. The success of the Maker flight testing program additionally demonstrates a variety of the important thing enabling applied sciences for Midnight, such because the plane’s flight management system. The Maker flight take a look at program has generated invaluable information that Archer has leveraged within the improvement and certification course of for Midnight. Archer has made speedy progress on Maker’s flight testing program, finishing this transition to totally wing-borne flight in lower than 12 months after its first hover flight.
“From day one, Archer’s technique has at all times been about discovering essentially the most environment friendly path to commercializing eVTOL plane,” mentioned Adam Goldstein, Archer’s Founder and CEO. “The info and expertise we’ve gathered from Maker’s rigorous flight testing program has been invaluable to the event and certification path of Midnight, and lends additional confidence to our perception that Archer would be the first firm to certify an eVTOL plane within the US with the FAA.”
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Jamie Whitney, Affiliate Editor
Army + Aerospace Electronics
