Joby Achieves Testing Landmark with Piloted Aircraft

Joby Aviation recently announced a significant milestone in its aircraft testing program. The company successfully conducted flights that included a complete transition from vertical to cruise flight and back, with a pilot on board.

A crucial design feature of the Joby aircraft is its ability to transition from vertical to horizontal flight. This capability allows the aircraft to take off and land vertically, similar to a helicopter, while achieving the efficiency and speed of a traditional fixed-wing aircraft during forward flight. This distinctive attribute will enable Joby to provide swift and seamless passenger services directly to popular destinations.

In 2017, Joby intentionally aimed to showcase remotely-piloted transitions by successfully executing the first transition of a full-scale prototype aircraft. Since then, the company has conducted over 40,000 miles of test flights across various aircraft. These tests include hundreds of transitions from vertical take-off to cruise flight, as well as more than a hundred flights featuring a pilot onboard during hover and low-speed flight.

Since completing a landmark first full transition flight with a pilot onboard on April 22, 2025, the Company has conducted multiple transition flights with three different pilots. Joby has thus become the first company to routinely perform inhabited testing of an electric air taxi, transitioning from hover to wingborne flight.

Didier Papadopolous, President of Aircraft OEM at Joby, commented: “Achieving this milestone is hugely significant for Joby. It not only demonstrates the high level of confidence we have in the performance of the aircraft as we prepare for commercial service in Dubai, it also paves the way to starting TIA flight testing with FAA pilots onboard. We have taken a very methodical approach to achieving this long-planned milestone, with an immense amount of testing, both in the air and on the ground, helping form a solid foundation that allowed us to move from one historic flight to routine pilot-on-board transitions almost overnight.”

The inaugural pilot-on-board transition was conducted by Joby's Chief Test Pilot, James “Buddy” Denham, at the company's flight test facility in Marina, California. Denham, with experience flying over 60 different aircraft types, joined Joby in 2019 following his retirement from the Naval Air Systems Command. There, he spearheaded the research and development of the joint US-UK Unified Control Concept, which was successfully integrated into the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter.

During the flight, Denham performed a vertical take-off in the newest aircraft from Joby’s Marina production line (N544JX). He then ascended, transitioned to full wingborne flight, and completed the manoeuvre with a vertical landing on the runway.

Commenting on the flight, Denham said: “I’m honoured to have played a role in this historic moment. Designing and flying an aircraft that can seamlessly transition between vertical and cruise flight has long been considered one of the most challenging technological feats in aerospace, but our team has developed and built an aircraft that makes it feel like an everyday task. The aircraft flew exactly as expected, with excellent handling qualities and low pilot workload.”

In preparation for the pilot-on-board transition flight, Joby conducted extensive testing in the Company's Integrated Test Lab. This ground-based facility simulates all major systems of the aircraft, enabling the team to test propulsion units, actuators, and other hardware and software identical to the Company's prototype aircraft before actual flight.

Joby successfully conducted a series of flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base to validate the redundancy integrated into the aircraft's design. These tests involved remote, ground-based pilots managing simulated scenarios such as motor failure, battery failure, and other potential in-flight events. In each instance, the aircraft met performance expectations, allowing Joby pilots to maintain safe flight and execute a controlled, vertical landing, even when operating with only four of the six propellers.

In addition to conducting testing at its California headquarters, Joby has previously performed demonstration flights in New York City, Japan, and Korea. The company currently maintains a fleet of five aircraft for flight testing, with two of these aircraft delivered to Edwards Air Force Base for testing in collaboration with the company's defence clients.

Joby's all-electric air taxi is engineered to carry a pilot along with up to four passengers, reaching speeds of up to 200 mph (321 km/h). It offers high-speed transportation with significantly less noise compared to helicopters and operates with zero emissions. Joby is on schedule to deliver an aircraft to Dubai by mid-2025 for flight testing, before commencing passenger services in the region.