Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft Joby Aviation completed a series of major aerostructure tests for certification credit with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The tests took place in California with the campaign covering all of the structures, components, and systems on the aircraft, producing data that is required for FAA type certification of its aircraft.
Joby completed static load testing of the tail structure, marking the first time the company has tested a major aerostructure of its aircraft-for-credit with a FAA representative present.
“Completing for-credit static load testing on a major aircraft structure marks an important step towards certification of the Joby aircraft and we're very pleased with the results,” said Joby president of aircraft OEM Didier Papadopoulos.
During the test, Joby engineers applied loads to the aircraft's tail structure that far exceed the maximum forces the structure is expected to experience during flight. The FAA-conforming tail structure used in the test, along with the test procedure, instrumentation, and applied loads, are outlined in Joby's certification documents, which have been approved by the FAA as part of the certification process.