Archer, manufacturer and champions of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced this week that its flight test program hit another key milestone as the company’s Midnight aircraft took flight.
This milestone builds on Archer’s four years of flight testing, including two years of full-scale flight testing with Maker.
Archer’s Founder & CEO Adam Goldstein said the following on this milestone:
“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,”
“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.”
[monsterinsights_popular_posts_inline]
“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.
Progress after Summer certificate approval
Back in August Archer received the FAA certificate, which they had this to say about at the time:
“With each passing quarter and each milestone hit on schedule, we continue to prove our steadfast strategy and execute on our goal of achieving the most efficient path to market – optimizing our aircraft for certification, manufacturing, and commercial operation,” said Archer Chief Operating Officer, Tom Muniz.
“Needless to say, our strategy is paying off and we thank the FAA for their team’s ongoing collaboration with Archer to provide the right framework to certify our eVTOL aircraft and safely integrate them into the national airspace.”
The company had this statement to go along with this latest announcement:
“As Archer’s flight test program continues to advance, Midnight’s flight envelope is expected to progress rapidly from hover to full wing-borne transition flight in the coming months, paving the way for the company to begin “for credit” testing of its Midnight aircraft with the FAA next year as it works towards entry into service in 2025.”
“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.”
“Archer’s Midnight is a piloted, four-passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.”
New facility to support production
Only earlier this month Archer announced that they had closed several agreements to open the worlds highest-volume EVTOL aircraft manufacturing facility:
““The ability to manufacture eVTOL aircraft at scale is critical to building a successful business in this industry and Archer continues to maintain a significant lead on this front.”
“Today, we’re taking another major step forward on our manufacturing buildout by securing a design-build agreement and financing agreement for the world’s first, and largest by volume, eVTOL manufacturing facility,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer’s Founder and CEO.
“Consistent with our capital efficient strategy of getting to commercialization, we’ve achieved attractive terms on the project.”
“These agreements, along with our already strong partnership with Stellantis, give us the flexibility to ramp up our capacity and become the leading scale manufacturer of eVTOL aircraft in the world.””
Click the banner to subscribe to our weekly newsleter.
