It’s been a big year for Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR), a major player in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft: and today, the company announced that its flight test program has hit a key milestone. Building on four years of flight testing which began in 2019, including two years of full-scale flight testing of Archer’s Maker aircraft, “Midnight’s flight envelope is on track to rapidly advance from hover to full wing-borne flight over the coming months helping pave the way to begin “for credit” testing with the FAA next year,” says the company.
“This next phase of Archer’s flight test program is only possible because of the four years of flight testing we’ve done. Midnight is building on the successes of its predecessor aircraft and represents another significant step forward in Archer’s path to commercialization,” said Archer’s founder and CEO Adam Goldstein. “The next year and a half will be focused on continuing to rapidly advance our flight test program and Archer’s electric air taxi operations as we prepare to bring Midnight to market in 2025.”
The milestone follows closely upon announcement of a deal between Archer and the UAE to establish commercial air taxi service. Also in 2023, the company raised another $215 million in funding and received a special airworthiness certificate for the Midnight eVTOL.
“Having taken seven full-size eVTOL aircraft from design to flight test during my career in the eVTOL industry, today’s milestone with Midnight marks the most significant flight to date bringing Archer and the eVTOL industry another step closer to bringing a scalable and commercially viable aircraft to market,” said Archer COO Tom Muniz.
Simultaneous with the Midnight flight test program, Archer intends to continue Maker’s flight test program as well as flying simulated commercial routes to continue to advance the company’s operational readiness.
“Archer’s goal is to transform urban travel, replacing 60–90-minute commutes by car with estimated 10-20 minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low noise, and cost-competitive with ground transportation,” says the company. “Archer’s Midnight is a piloted, four-passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.”
Read more:
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
Subscribe to DroneLife here.