Archer Aviation announced a series of advancements that are advancing the era of electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aviation. The main thing can be considered the receipt of a special certificate of airworthiness from the US FAA, which allows the start of flight tests of the five-seat Midnight air taxi. But this is not Archer’s only success.
The next round of fundraising replenished Archer Aviation’s budget for the development, development and construction of test and production facilities by $215 million. Thus, the total amount of investors’ investments in this air taxi developer has exceeded $1.1 billion. Stellantis, Boeing, United poured new money into Archer Aviation Airlines, ARK Invest and other companies. Furthermore, Stellantis did this as part of the expansion of strategic cooperation concluded in January with Archer.
Investor interest in Archer Aviation simply could not help but intensify following the completion of the largest contract ever among air taxi developers with the US Air Force for the supply of six of the company’s aircraft, the first of which will be delivered to the customer in near future. VTOL electric vehicles are 100 times quieter than helicopters and are seen as a promising alternative for special operations.
It is interesting to note that shortly before receiving a special certificate of airworthiness from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Aviation Administration), the chief administrator of the department moved to Archer Aviation. And that’s not counting the company’s support of a board of retired multi-star US Army generals. Archer Aviation is definitely on the road to success.
Archer Aviation also announced that it has reached an agreement with Boeing and Wisk on cooperation in the area of autonomous flights and dispute resolution between the companies. The Archer Aviation Midnight and Boeing Wisk Aero air taxi schemes are definitely similar and this caused mutual complaints, which, thankfully, were resolved.
Hopefully soon Archer will present a video of unmanned flights of the Midnight model. It would be especially interesting to observe the flight dynamics when the engines move from a vertical to a horizontal position. If the tests are successfully completed, in 2024 the type certification of this device will begin, which will skyrocket for full commercial operation in 2025 or 2026.
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