Image: VAI/Mark Huber Photo Joby eVTOL makes VERTICON debut The company’s S4 2.0 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft is making its first appearance at this year’s show. By Mark Huber Joby Aviation’s S4 2.0 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is making its first appearance at this year’s VERTICON. The 4,800-lb. aircraft can carry one pilot and four passengers and has more than a 100-mile range and a 200-mph top speed. Joby recently reported that it was well into the fourth stage of a five-stage FAA certification process and said it expects to begin type inspection authorization (TIA) flights within the next 12 months. Five aircraft are currently in flight testing, including a hydrogen–hybrid aircraft. Two of the aircraft are based at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) as part of the company’s work with the US Department of Defense (DoD), a contract valued at $131 million. Two more aircraft will be delivered to the DoD this year to MacDill AFB, part of a commitment to deliver nine aircraft to the US Air Force. The company also plans to deliver an aircraft to Dubai in mid-2025 to begin passenger service there late this year or early next. The S4 2.0 features fly-by-wire controls; a redundant, electrically distributed propulsion system that feeds six articulating proprotors (two electric motors per rotor)—four proprotors mounted on the forward wing and two on the aft v-tail; and a battery-cooling and -charging system that can charge the aircraft in less than eight minutes. Late last year, Joby announced that it had received an additional $1 billion of funding and commitments and currently has an enterprise value of $4.7 billion. Mark Huber is an aviation journalist with more than two decades of experience in the vertical flight industry.
