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Joby Rolls Out First Aircraft from Production Line

The California-based manufacturer also names Toyota executive to its board of directors.

The first production prototype rolled out Wednesday with fanfare as a significant milestone for Joby Aviation and partner Toyota. [Courtesy: Joby Aviation]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Joby Aviation unveiled its first production prototype eVTOL, an industry first to receive a special airworthiness certificate for flight testing, signifying a major step towards scaled manufacturing and type certification.
  • This milestone was achieved with support from long-time partner Toyota, whose CEO is joining Joby's board, and is bolstered by a new $100 million equity investment from South Korea's SK Telecom.
  • The production prototype, capable of 100 miles range and 200 mph cruise speed, will fulfill part of Joby's $131 million contract with the U.S. Air Force, aiming for the industry's first customer delivery.
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The building blocks to achieve production must come together concurrently with type certification, if an aircraft manufacturer has any hope of launching a new product in a timely fashion. To this end, Joby Aviation has been formulating its processes along with the tooling, hardware, software, and teams required to achieve the goal of eVTOL success.

On Wednesday, Joby revealed a major milestone in the road to a type certificated production aircraft with the rollout of its first model built on the company’s Pilot Production Facility’s final assembly line in Marina, California. Derived from released engineering drawings under the OEM’s purpose-built quality management system, the production prototype makes for a “major step” on the road to aircraft manufacturing at the scale that Joby projects in both its short- and long-term plans.

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