Archer Aviation, a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced the successful completion of transition flying for its Midnight aircraft on June 8th. The Midnight aircraft achieved speeds over 100 mph during the transition, making Archer one of the few companies to reach this critical milestone with two different full-scale eVTOL aircraft.
Transition, a complex and challenging feat in the aviation industry, involves the aircraft taking off vertically like a helicopter, accelerating forward, and transitioning from thrust-borne to wing-borne flight like an airplane with tilt propellers, before decelerating and landing vertically. At approximately 6,500 lbs, Midnight is one of the largest eVTOL aircraft to achieve transition, which is essential for carrying commercially viable passenger payloads.
“Transitioning two generations of full-scale eVTOL aircraft in less than 2 years is another remarkable achievement for Archer’s team. This shows we continue to successfully execute against our plan to create the most efficient path to market with an aircraft that is designed for certification and to be manufactured efficiently at scale,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer’s Founder and CEO.
Midnight is now the seventh full-scale eVTOL aircraft that Archer’s CTO, Tom Muniz, and Chief Engineer, Dr. Geoff Bower, have successfully built and flown in their careers. Archer's first-generation full-scale eVTOL aircraft, Maker, achieved transition in November 2022, eleven months after its first flight. Maker continues to fly regularly in the company’s flight test program. Seven months after its first flight, Midnight has now transitioned successfully, marking significant progress toward commercialization.
“Successfully completing the transition from hover to wing-borne flight with a full-scale eVTOL aircraft is a tremendous engineering feat that only a handful of companies in the world have achieved,” said Dr. Geoff Bower, Archer’s Chief Engineer. “Over the seven eVTOL aircraft I’ve built and flown in my career, they have gotten progressively larger as we pursued payloads that made the aircraft platform commercially viable. Midnight is believed to be one of the largest eVTOL aircraft ever to achieve transition and one of the first that is purpose-built to carry enough passengers to be able to operate a successful air taxi business. I’m extremely proud of Archer’s team as we have now achieved this milestone with two generations of full-scale aircraft.”
Midnight’s flight test program will now advance with plans to fly simulated commercial routes, demonstrating the aircraft’s operational readiness. The program will focus on executing high-rate flight operations, testing additional flight maneuvers for commercial use, and expanding its speed and endurance flight envelope.
Archer continues to progress toward certification, having received its Part 135 and Part 145 certificates from the FAA. The company is also one of two in the world to have its final airworthiness criteria for an eVTOL aircraft issued by the FAA. Midnight is now in the final “implementation” phase of its Type Certification program, with piloted flight testing set to begin later this year.
Archer aims to revolutionize urban travel, replacing 60-90 minute car commutes with 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 for rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.
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