MARINA – Joby Aviation has reached another milestone in becoming the first electric vehicle take-off and landing company to go commercial as it has completed three of five stages of the Federal Aviation Administration type certification.
Joby has been doing business and developing a manufacturing facility in the city of Marina for the last six years where it launched production of its aircraft at its Pilot Production Plant with the first aircraft rolling off the line in June 2023, to begin flight testing.
Joby’s electric air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions.
A “type certificate” is a document granted by the National Aviation Authority of the country in which an aircraft is intended to operate. It confirms the airworthiness of the aircraft according to its manufacturing design and is required in order to fly commercial operations. It is separate from the “production certificate” which is focused on the manufacturing process itself, according to company documents.
Joby submitted certification plans during the third stage of the process that cover all of the aircraft’s structural, mechanical and electrical systems, in addition to Joby Aviation’s intended certification approach to cybersecurity, human factors, and noise.
These certification plans, which detail the tests and analyses that Joby will use to certify every aspect of its aircraft for commercial use, have now all been reviewed and accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration, laying the groundwork for Joby to submit test plans and begin for-credit testing across every area of the company’s aircraft program, according to a press release from Joby.
“Joby continues to lead the industry towards bringing electric air taxis to the commercial market,” said Joby Aviation Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt, in the release. “Our certification and engineering teams are best-in-class and, working closely with the FAA, continue to support U.S. leadership in this new area of aviation.”
Joby says it considers the type certification process in five stages, with the first three stages considered the “definition” phase, while stages four and five are the “implementation” phase.
Stage One is Certification Basis where the company works with the FAA to define the scope of the type certification project, reaching an agreement on what type of aircraft is being built and which set of rules and regulations will therefore apply.
Stage Two is the Means of Compliance where the company scrutinizes the safety rules and identifies the means of demonstrating compliance with them.
Stage Three is for Certification Plans where the company develops a wide range of detailed certification plans stipulating which tests need to be performed for each system area in order to satisfy the means of compliance.
Stage Four is for Testing and Analysis where the company plans, documents and completes thousands of inspections, tests and analyses in accordance with the certification plans previously drawn up in the third stage.
Stage Five is for Showing and Verifying where the results of the testing are verified by the FAA. Upon successful completion of this stage, a type certification is issued.
With three of its area-specific certification plans accepted by the FAA – and the majority of the remainder ready for submission – Joby is now fully focused on the fourth stage of the certification process, where the company will complete tests and analysis for FAA credit covering every component and system on the Joby aircraft – as well as the entire aircraft itself.
“With all of our certification plans accepted by the FAA, we are now completely focused on the execution phase of the certification process,” said Didier Papadopoulos, President of Aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer at Joby, in the release. “We have a clear path to certifying every aspect of our aircraft and the team is full steam ahead on executing against that path as we continue to lead the industry to commercialization.”
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Joby completed 30 for-credit tests covering a number of flight electronics units as well as structural materials. The testing methods and processes validated through these tests lay the foundation for the company’s continued expansion of FAA for-credit testing.
Joby also recently received its Part 145 Repair Station Certificate from the FAA, allowing the company to perform select maintenance activities on aircraft and marking another key step on the path to commercializing Joby’s electric air taxi service.
Joby Aviation is headquartered in Santa Cruz and has facilities in Marina, San Carlos, Washington, D.C., and Munich Germany.
