In Depth with JoeBen Bevirt Illuminates the Joby Vision

In the quest to free vertical flight, the engineer makes good on a childhood dream.

Julie Boatman

Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 07:12 AM ET

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JoeBen Bevirt spoke with FLYING at the Paris Air Show 2023. [Credit: Stephen Yeates]

Key Takeaways:

Joby Aviation founder JoeBen Bevirt's vision for quiet, efficient electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft stemmed from his childhood desire for better transportation to his remote home.
Bevirt pursued this dream over decades, founding Joby Aviation in 2009, waiting for battery technology to mature, and developing a vertically integrated approach with advanced fly-by-wire control systems to enhance safety and performance.
The company has grown significantly, unveiled its conforming production prototype, and is actively collaborating with the FAA, fostering a constructive relationship to certify its eVTOL aircraft as a new, sustainable mode of transportation.

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In the folds of the Santa Cruz Mountains in California, a boy grew up dreaming of a different kind of flight—one that wouldn’t be constrained by the traditional means of lifting off and landing in challenging places, just like the remote enclave his parents called home in the 1970s and ’80s. Yes, helicopters would, in theory, take him where he wanted to go, but the noise produced by a typical combustion engine and rotor blades shattered the quiet he wished to preserve.

This dream provoked a vision for JoeBen Bevirt—one he has singularly pursued ever since.