BETA Technologies, Joby Aviation complete landmark eIPP flights in Florida

Florida has completed its first demonstration flights of the Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), organised by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) with Joby and BETA Technologies testing cargo deliveries and routes over the Tampa Bay area.

Florida is the seventh location to launch under the initiative, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),

BETA’s Alia CX300 electric Conventional Takeoff and Landing (eCTOL) aircraft flew from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport to Tampa, replicating the first-ever passenger flight in 1914, said the agency, while Joby conducted test flights with its S4 electric eVTOL aircraft from Albert Whitted Airport to Tampa International Airport and at the SunTrax testing facility. In November, FDOT and Electra will conduct flight tests in several locations throughout central Florida.

“This morning, history was made in Tampa Bay with Florida’s first Advanced Air Mobility electric aircraft demonstration flights,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “From the first commercial airline flight over Tampa Bay in 1914, to today’s AAM demonstrations along that same historic route, Florida has long been a launchpad for new ideas that shape the future of transportation.

Joby Aviation, in a press release, said today launches a week of piloted electric air taxi flights across Florida, taking its aircraft from Tampa to Orlando and on to the Space Coast. “The aircraft will fly at Orlando International Airport and Kennedy Space Center, helping map the first phase of Florida’s planned Aerial Highway Network. “

(Image: Joby Aviation)

The network comprises:

Tampa Bay: Point-to-point flight on Oct. 30 from Albert Whitted Airport (SPG) in downtown St. Petersburg to Tampa International Airport (TPA). Community members are invited to watch the takeoff and a live stream of the flight from Albert Whitted Park beginning at 8:45 a.m., at a community event hosted by the City of St. Petersburg celebrating the world’s first scheduled commercial airline flight.

Orlando: Flight at Orlando International Airport (MCO) landing near the airport’s Terminal C and Train Station at a new vertiport, a dedicated eVTOL landing site, flown on routes and enabled by procedures developed over two years of simulation with the FAA, NASA, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and Orlando air traffic controllers.

Kennedy Space Center: Flight at the Shuttle Landing Facility during the UP.Summit, bringing the aircraft to the home of American spaceflight before industry leaders where the country’s aerospace ambitions launched more than 60 years ago.

Meanwhile, according to Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of BETA. “ALIA is all-electric and mechanically simple, so it’s inexpensive to operate and maintain, and we built the charging network in parallel. Florida invested early, and our chargers are now at nine sites from the Panhandle to the Space Coast. Earlier this year, the aircraft and the network together supported high-cadence operations with Republic Airways along the I-4 corridor, up to nine flights a day at under USD17 in energy per flight. We’ve logged more than 250,000 nautical miles across our CTOL and VTOL fleet to get here. The eIPP is where we put that experience to work, on the routes our customers will fly in commercial service.”

Earlier this year, BETA signed an agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation to supply 34 chargers and thermal management systems. Florida is home to BETA’s largest charging network in the U.S., with nine charge sites currently online: