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It took autonomous aviation to new heights…and lengths.
A single-engine prop Cessna Caravan soared into the record books after becoming the first autonomous airplane to complete a cross-country flight across the US.
“This journey across America offers a glimpse into a new era of aviation,” declared JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, in a statement.
His firm oversaw the robo-prop as it departed the company headquarters in Concord, California on September 7 and flew 3,199 miles across the nation — and all without the aid of a human pilot.
Instead, the Cessna’s course was powered by autonomous programming every step of the way, from taxi to takeoff and landing, Popular Science reported.
Instead of a direct flight, the autopiloted aircraft made multiple stops, touching down at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, and South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base.
Along the way, the aviation machine was also tasked with navigating various travel hurdles from thunderstorms to Phoenix’s Deer Valley — one of the nation’s busiest general aviation airports,
It’s safe to say the Cessna passed with flying colors.
After completing the record-breaking US traverse on September 14, the aircraft performed a symbolic flyover of the Flight Monument in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, near the site of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s aviation milestone in 1903.
The autonomous airplane will head back to Cali with scheduled stops Washington D.C., Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Oregon.
With this latest feat of autonomous flight under their belt, Joby may have ushered in a new era of aviation.
Bevirt believes that autonomous flight will help “connect remote communities, deliver critical supplies, respond faster to disasters, support military operations, and keep pilots out of harm’s way.”
This is not the only way the aviation firm is changing the face of air transit.
In April, Joby’s “Jetsons”-like air taxi completed its first NYC test flight, traveling between JFK airport and Midtown in just 15 minutes.
The electric chopper touched down quietly at a Hudson Yards heliport run by subsidiary Blade, an urban transportation firm that offers rides with its gas-powered counterpart.
“You’re watching the dawn of a new era of air mobility, urban air mobility,” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade.
