As I walked into the Las Vegas Convention Center’s west hall last month, I was met with a crowd listening to details about the FAA’s newly overhauled powered-lift category rules governing operations of eVTOLs like the Joby aircraft pictured here.
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker calls it “an entirely new category of aircraft.” The nearly 1,000 pages of new guidance from the FAA will detail how pilots operate these new aircraft.
Joby’s JoeBen Bevirt said in a statement, “The regulation published today will ensure the United States continues to play a global leadership role in the development and adoption of clean flight.” He continued, “Delivering the rules ahead of schedule is a testament to the dedication, coordination and hard work of the rulemaking team.”
The FAA’s press release about the new rules stated, “[this is] the final piece of the puzzle for safely introducing the aircraft in the near term. [It] allows for pilots to train in powered-lift with a single set of flight controls.”
According to Joby’s website, its aircraft will operate as an electric vertical takeoff and landing platform (eVTOL) with zero emissions (not counting the emissions related to charging its batteries). It will provide a pilot and four passengers with quiet, speedy (200 mph top speed) transport. A video comparing Joby’s seven-minute Downtown Manhattan flight to JFK to the laborious 40-minute car ride is compelling, especially if the cost is manageable.
Joby anticipates certifying the new aircraft sometime next year. This type of progress in a typically stodgy FAA environment is pretty exciting. Maybe we’ll start seeing these little, quiet, drone-like Jobys flying around big cities soon. I need one in Dallas since, for some reason, my sports teams play 21 miles away in Arlington, Texas.
