Archer rolls out first Midnight aircraft, prepares for flight testing

                                                                                                                                         

Archer Aviation Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) has now completed the final assembly of its first composites-intensive electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) Midnight aircraft. With final assembly and initial testing complete, last week the aircraft was shipped from Archer’s Palo Alto facility to its flight test facility in Salinas, California, and reassembled. Archer will now take this aircraft through a series of ground tests leading up to its planned first flight this summer. The Midnight aircraft has recently garnered significant attention from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) given its payload capabilities.

With a range of up to 100 miles, Archer’s Midnight aircraft is designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time in between. Archer’s goal is to transform intercity travel, replacing 60-90 minute commutes by car that can take more than an hour in traffic with ~10-20 minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low noise and cost-competitive with ground transportation.

Midnight will enable Archer to perform critical “company testing” to accelerate and reduce risk on its certification program with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in advance of “for credit” certification testing that the company plans to begin early next year with piloted Midnight aircraft. Archer’s strategy with this aircraft is to enable the company to fly many of the same test points that will be needed during piloted “for credit” flight testing in order to further validate the aircraft before the FAA witnesses and participates in the testing — a customary practice in many aircraft certification programs.

Component manufacturing is already underway for Archer’s conforming Midnight aircraft. Archer is targeting the completion of its final assembly in Q4 2023 and to begin piloted flight test operations in early 2024.

According to Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO, “This aircraft will accelerate and reduce risk on our certification program, paving the way for our team to focus on building and conducting piloted operations with conforming aircraft to support the goal of entering into service in 2025.”

Archer’s team, alongside its key strategic partners, Stellantis and United Airlines, continues to advance its aircraft development and commercial operations quickly and efficiently. The company has also reported on the build of its high-volume manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, and announced key strategic electric air taxi routes in New York and Chicago.