Archer Completes Midnight’s Transition Flight (Video) – CleanTechnica – Uplaza

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Midnight Is Archer’s Second Full-Scale EVTOL Plane To Obtain This Milestone

• Midnight accomplished the transition flight on June eighth flying at speeds of 100+ MPH
• At ~6,500 lb, Midnight is believed to be one of many largest eVTOL plane to finish transition, which is crucial to having the ability to carry commercially viable passenger payloads
• Archer has now achieved transition with two completely different full-scale eVTOL plane which is well-known within the business as a really troublesome milestone few firms have reached
• A transition flight happens when the plane takes off vertically like a helicopter, accelerates ahead, transitions from thrust-borne to wing-borne flight like an airplane with tilt propellers ahead earlier than decelerating and touchdown vertically
• Click on “here” to view a full video of the transition flight

SANTA CLARA, California — Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR), a frontrunner in electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown (eVTOL) plane, this week introduced that on June eighth its Midnight plane efficiently accomplished transition flying at a pace of 100+ mph. Archer has now achieved transition with two completely different full-scale eVTOL plane. Transition is well-known within the business as a really troublesome milestone few firms have reached. At ~6,500 lb, Midnight is believed to be one of many largest eVTOL plane to finish transition, which is crucial to having the ability to carry commercially viable passenger payloads.

A transition flight happens when the plane takes off vertically like a helicopter, accelerates ahead, transitions from thrust-borne to wing-borne flight like an airplane with tilt propellers ahead earlier than decelerating and touchdown 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,” stated Adam Goldstein, Archer’s Founder and CEO.
Midnight is now the seventh full-scale eVTOL plane that Archer’s CTO, Tom Muniz, and Chief Engineer, Dr. Geoff Bower, have efficiently constructed and flown of their respective careers. Archer’s first technology full-scale eVTOL plane, Maker, efficiently achieved transition in November, 2022, eleven months after its first flight, and nonetheless flies usually within the firm’s flight check program. Simply seven months after Midnight’s first flight, Archer has now efficiently transitioned its manufacturing eVTOL plane as the corporate continues to construct momentum in direction of commercialization.

“Successfully completing the transition from hover to wing-borne flight with a full-scale eVTOL aircraft is a tremendous engineering feat that only a handful of companies in the world have achieved,” stated Dr. Geoff Bower, Archer’s Chief Engineer. “Over the seven eVTOL aircraft I’ve built and flown in my career, they have gotten progressively larger as we pursued payloads that made the aircraft platform commercially viable. Midnight is believed to be one of the largest eVTOL aircraft ever to achieve transition and one of the first that is purpose built to carry enough passengers to be able to operate a successful air taxi business. I’m extremely proud of Archer’s team as we have now achieved this milestone with two generations of full-scale aircraft.”

Midnight’s flight check program will now proceed its progress with plans to fly simulated business routes to display the plane’s operational readiness, executing high-rate flight operations, testing further flight maneuvers that will likely be utilized in business settings together with persevering with to increase its pace and endurance flight envelope.

Archer continues to make certification progress as the corporate has now acquired its Half 135 and Half 145 certificates from the FAA. Moreover, Archer is one in every of two firms on this planet to have its closing airworthiness standards for an eVTOL plane issued by the FAA. Midnight is now within the closing “implementation” section of its Sort Certification program with piloted flight testing on monitor to start later this yr.

Archer’s purpose is to rework city journey, changing 60–90-minute commutes by automobile with estimated 10–20-minute electrical air taxi flights which can be secure, sustainable, low noise, and cost-competitive with floor transportation. Archer’s Midnight is a piloted, four-passenger plane designed to carry out fast back-to-back flights with minimal cost time between flights.

Press launch from Archer.