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Joby Completes Fully Autonomous Flight Across U.S.

Modified Cessna Caravan test aircraft covers more than 3,000 miles without any pilot input.

Jonathan Welsh
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Jonathan Welsh

Joby’s modified Cessna Caravan test aircraft [Credit: Joby Aviation]

Autonomous aviation moved closer to the mainstream with the recent coast-to-coast flight of a Cessna Caravan modified with Joby Aviation’s autonomy technology.

The Santa Cruz, California-based developer of eVTOL aircraft and autonomous flight systems said the test aircraft flew 3,199 miles with no control inputs from its onboard safety pilot. The airplane finished the eastbound leg of the monthlong mission in North Carolina’s Outer Banks near the site of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight at Kill Devil Hills.

Jonathan Welsh

Jonathan Welsh is a private pilot and lifelong aviation enthusiast who has been a reporter, writer and columnist for 35 years. His career includes stints with the Wall Street Journal, Flying Magazine and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He recently returned to Firecrown to lead Aviation Consumer.