Latest news with #F-35BJointStrikeFighter
Business Wire
29-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Joby Achieves Testing Landmark with Piloted Aircraft
SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, today announced it has reached a landmark moment in its aircraft test program, successfully completing flights with a full transition from vertical to cruise flight, and back again, with a pilot onboard. Transitioning from vertical to horizontal flight is a key design attribute of the Joby aircraft, allowing it to take-off and land vertically like a helicopter, while maintaining the efficiency and speed of a conventional, fixed-wing aircraft in forward flight. This unique capability will enable Joby to deliver rapid and seamless passenger service directly to popular destinations. Joby purposefully set out to demonstrate remotely-piloted transition first, completing the first transition of a full-scale, prototype aircraft in 2017. The Company has since completed more than 40,000 miles of test flights across multiple aircraft, including hundreds of transitions from vertical take-off to cruise flight as well as more than a hundred flights with a pilot onboard in hover and low-speed flight. Since completing a landmark first full transition flight with a pilot onboard on April 22, 2025, the Company has completed multiple transition flights with three different pilots at the controls, as Joby becomes the first company to routinely perform inhabited testing of an electric air taxi from hover to wingborne flight. Didier Papadopolous, President of Aircraft OEM at Joby, commented: 'Achieving this milestone is hugely significant for Joby. It not only demonstrates the high level of confidence we have in the performance of the aircraft as we prepare for commercial service in Dubai, it also paves the way to starting TIA flight testing with FAA pilots onboard. 'We have taken a very methodical approach to achieving this long-planned milestone, with an immense amount of testing, both in the air and on the ground, helping form a solid foundation that allowed us to move from one historic flight to routine pilot-on-board transitions almost overnight.' The first pilot-on-board transition was flown by Joby Chief Test Pilot James 'Buddy' Denham and took place at Joby's flight test facility in Marina, California. Denham, who has flown more than 60 different aircraft types, joined Joby in 2019 after retiring from Naval Air Systems Command where he led the research and development of the joint US-UK Unified Control Concept that was successfully integrated into the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. The flight saw Denham execute a vertical take-off in the latest aircraft to roll off Joby's Marina production line (N544JX), before climbing out and accelerating to fully wingborne flight and returning for a vertical landing on the runway. Commenting on the flight, Denham said: 'I'm honored to have played a role in this historic moment. Designing and flying an aircraft that can seamlessly transition between vertical and cruise flight has long been considered one of the most challenging technological feats in aerospace, but our team has developed and built an aircraft that makes it feel like an everyday task. The aircraft flew exactly as expected, with excellent handling qualities and low pilot workload.' In preparation for achieving pilot-on-board transition flight, Joby completed thousands of tests in the Company's Integrated Test Lab, a ground-based facility which replicates all of the major systems of the aircraft, allowing the team to test propulsion units, actuators, and other aircraft hardware and software that is identical to the Company's prototype aircraft before taking to the air. Joby also completed a series of flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base designed to confirm the redundancy present throughout the aircraft's design, with remote, ground-based pilots handling simulated motor-out, battery-out, and other potential in-flight events. In all cases, the aircraft performed as expected, enabling Joby pilots to continue safe flight and a controlled, vertical landing, even when relying on just four of the aircraft's six propellers. As well as completing testing at its base in California, Joby has also previously completed demonstration flights in New York City, Japan, and Korea. Joby currently has five aircraft in its flight test fleet, with two delivered to Edwards Air Force Base for testing in conjunction with the Company's defense customers. Joby's all-electric air taxi is designed to transport a pilot and up to four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph (321 km/h), offering high-speed mobility with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters and zero operating emissions. Joby remains on track to deliver an aircraft to Dubai in the middle of 2025 to complete flight testing ahead of first passenger flights in the region. Hi-resolution photos and video footage of Joby's aircraft flying wingborne with a pilot onboard are available here. About Joby Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi which it intends to operate as part of a fast, quiet, and convenient service in cities around the world. To learn more, visit Forward Looking Statements This release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the 'safe harbor' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the development and performance of our aircraft, the growth of our manufacturing capabilities, our regulatory outlook, progress and timing, including our expectation to begin Type Inspection Authorization within 12 months from February 2025, our plans to deliver an aircraft to Dubai in mid-2025, and the expected timing of type certification; our business plan, objectives, goals and market opportunity; plans for, and potential benefits of, our strategic partnerships; and our current expectations relating to our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects, capital needs and growth of our operations, including the expected benefits of our vertically-integrated business model. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'expect', 'project', 'plan', 'intend', 'believe', 'may', 'will', 'should', 'can have', 'likely' and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. All forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: our ability to launch our air taxi service and the growth of the urban air mobility market generally; our ability to produce aircraft that meet our performance expectations in the volumes and on the timelines that we project; complexities related to obtaining certification and operating in foreign markets; the competitive environment in which we operate; our future capital needs; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; our ability to effectively respond to evolving regulations and standards relating to our aircraft; our reliance on third-party suppliers and service partners; uncertainties related to our estimates of the size of the market for our service and future revenue opportunities; and other important factors discussed in the section titled 'Risk Factors' in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on February 27, 2025, and in future filings and other reports we file with or furnish to the SEC. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates and beliefs as of the date of this release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sacked Marine Pilot Whose F-35B Flew Without Him After Ejecting Gives His Side Of The Story
The Marines partially blamed Charles 'Tre' Del Pizzo for the loss of his F-35B Joint Strike Fighter that flew pilotless for nearly 12 minutes before slamming into the ground following his ejection back in September 2023. Now the 48-year-old retired colonel is giving his side of the story. In a truly amazing piece by Post and Courier reporter Tony Bartelme, Del Pizzo pushed back on the Marine Corps' findings, saying he was essentially blinded in bad weather by cascading equipment malfunctions while returning to Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, from a training sortie over the Atlantic Ocean. Before the incident, Del Pizzo was putting the jet through its paces as he was learning its strengths and weaknesses before taking command of VMX-1, a key operational test and evaluation squadron in Yuma, Arizona. The mishap occurred as Del Pizzo was attempting an instrument landing in the F-35B's vertical mode in zero-visibility conditions during a raging storm. Unlike the Air Force's F-35A and the Navy F-35C carrier variant, the B version flown by the Marines possesses short takeoff, vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, allowing it to take off, land and hover in a manner similar to the AV-B8 Harrier jets that Del Pizzo used to fly. Both the Marine Corps' final report on the mishap and Del Pizzo's version note problems with the nearly half-million-dollar helmet that displayed the jet's speed, altitude and targeting information. It is the severity of the malfunctions and how much it contributed to Del Pizzo's decision to punch out of the aircraft on Sept. 17, 2023 where the two accounts greatly differ. Two other Marine investigations into the incident backed up Del Pizzo's contention (more on those later). 'Contributing factors to the mishap included an electrical event during flight, which induced failures of both primary radios, the transponder, the tactical air navigation system, and the instrument landing system; and the probability that the helmet-mounted display and panoramic cockpit display were not operational for at least three distinct periods,' the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) stated last year in a press release announcing the results of the third and final investigation into the incident. 'This caused the pilot to become disoriented in challenging instrument and meteorological conditions.' 'The investigation concluded that the mishap occurred due to pilot error,' the release continued. 'The pilot incorrectly diagnosed an out-of-controlled flight emergency and ejected from a flyable aircraft, albeit during a heavy rainstorm compounded with aircraft electrical and display malfunctions.' Del Pizzo said he had no choice but to eject. Starting suddenly shortly after 1:30 p.m., the helmet failed three times in 41 seconds, the now-retired Marine pilot stated. At first, he said his helmet flickered, then 'the visor erupted in flashes of alerts,' Bartelme wrote. 'Failures in flight control systems, avionics, cooling, navigation, GPS, communications. Audio alerts sounded: whoop, whoop, whoop. Then the helmet and main displays went dark; the audio alerts stopped. About 15 seconds had passed.' About 15 seconds later, the helmet failed for a second time as the jet was in clouds about 750 feet off the ground and descending in vertical mode at about 800 feet per minute. He opted to execute a 'missed approach procedure' and get away from the ground. Del Pizzo 'pulled back the stick to climb, pushed the throttle forward for thrust,' Bartelme wrote. 'Raised the landing gear. Pressed a button that converts the jet from vertical mode to conventional. Then the helmet display went dark again, as if rebooting. He tried to radio his wingman, the control tower. Nothing. Coms out. Then it flashed on, along with another thunderstorm of alerts, more than 25 messages telling him that the jet was in deep trouble and getting worse. Whoop, whoop, whoop.' Just 11 seconds later, the equipment failed again, Del Pizzo stated to Bartelme. 'The helmet and main display failed a third time, differently now, as if powering down for good,' Bartelme wrote. 'Instruments gone, a sea of gray outside his window. Is the plane responding? He pulled the throttle back. He glanced at the small backup panel between his legs. He heard what sounded like a motor spooling down. The engine? He felt the nose of the aircraft tilt upward. He felt a falling sensation. He still couldn't see the ground. Was he still over the base? Over the trees?' 'Forty-one seconds. Decide, act: The jet's going into the trees, and I'm going with it. In one quick motion, he reached between his legs for the yellow handle, put his left hand over his right wrist. And pulled.' You can hear audio feeds from emergency responders and air traffic control audio of the incident below. To go along with the ATC audio put together by Aeroscout, here's the full radio traffic from Charleston County EMS/Fire for the #F35 pilot ejection beginning from the initial dispatch until they cleared the scene. Units: Medic 8 (Charleston County EMS), Engine 210 (North… — ☈ Chris Jackson ☈ (@ChrisJacksonSC) September 19, 2023 Del Pizzo was injured by the ejection as shards of metal dug into his neck from the canopy blown open by explosives. He was hurt some more when his helmet and face mask were ripped off by the force of the wind. He also broke his back. He initially feared he would be killed by the out-of-control jet falling on top of him as both came back to Earth. 'I remember feeling the precipitation on my face, and then just being pulled back as the drogue chute opened and slowed me down,' Del Pizzo noted 'And I could hear the engine noise from the airplane. With my helmet off, it was pretty loud. What I heard was complete chaos. Things falling around me. And that's when I thought the airplane is going to come down and hit me, because I felt like the airplane was out of control, right? I thought the airplane is going to hit me, and I'm going to die here in this parachute.' However, he said his biggest concern wasn't for himself. 'Uppermost in his mind as he talked to the dispatcher and arriving paramedics: What happened to the jet?' Bartelme wrote. 'My biggest fear was that I'd hurt someone,' Del Pizzo told him. Unbeknownst to him at the time, however, the jet continued flying unmanned for another '11 minutes and 21 seconds before impacting in a rural area approximately 64 nautical miles northeast of the airfield in Williamsburg County, South Carolina,' the Marines said in their press release last year. 'The investigation concludes the mishap aircraft's extended unmanned flight was due to stability provided by the F-35's advanced automatic flight-control systems.' The aircraft was discovered more than 24 hours later, crashed in a heavily wooded area. 'The mishap resulted in no ground-related injuries, but it did result in property damage in the form of lost forested land and crops,' the Marines noted in their press release. The exact cause of the electrical malfunction may never be publicly known, because the Marines redacted it for 'national security purposes,' Bartelme pointed out. 'Unredacted portions ruled out some causes, though,' he wrote. 'Thunderstorms were in the area, but bolts at the time of the mishap were 20 miles away and couldn't have fried the plane's electronics. Investigators noted that the aircraft entered heavy rain five minutes before Del Pizzo ejected. But a Marine spokesperson said its investigation found no evidence that rainwater caused the electrical malfunction.' The F-35 fleet as a whole experienced issues with lightning over concerns about the aircraft's fuel system. You can read more about that here. The Marines' final investigation report said that 'there were no punitive actions recommended' as a result of this mishap. However, more than a year later, the Marine Corps relieved Del Pizzo of command of VMX-1. The decision was made even though two of three Marine investigations into the incident concluded that Del Pizzo was not at fault, the Post and Courier explained. That conclusion was based on statements from Del Pizzo, officials knowledgeable about the reports' contents and documents obtained by the publication through open records laws. 'Del Pizzo's aircraft experienced a significant electrical malfunction, one that knocked out key systems — including displays and navigation aids he needed to land in severe weather,' the newspaper noted. 'Knobs to radios weren't working, making it difficult to contact air traffic controllers or his wingman for guidance. A small backup display was partially functional, but Del Pizzo had to look down to see it.' This and zero-visibility conditions 'likely contributed to a phenomenon known as spatial disorientation, where your inner ear tricks you into feeling that you're dizzy or falling,' Bartelme's story continued. The Navy Aviation Mishap Board and the Field Flight Performance Board 'each noted that nothing in the military's training and simulator work prepared pilots for a crescendo of systems failures in severe weather at a low altitude,' according to the Post and Courier. 'In fact, the F-35B's flight manual said, 'the aircraft is considered to be in out of controlled flight (OCF) when it fails to respond properly to pilot inputs,' adding, 'if out of control below 6,000 feet AGL (above ground level): EJECT.'' Both of those investigations concluded that most highly experienced pilots with similar levels of experience in an F-35 would have punched out of the plane. One even lauded Del Pizzo for his handling of the event. After the accident, superiors also praised Del Pizzo for his command of VMX-1 Still, last October, he was suddenly and immediately relieved of command, based on the service's Command Investigation, the third of the three that looked into the accident, Bartelme reported. The Marines explained the sudden and immediate relief of command was due to a 'loss of trust and confidence.' Del Pizzo, caught off guard and hurt by the decision, opted to retire given that his future options in the Marine Corps would be severely limited. Asked by The War Zone for a response to the Post and Courier story, the Marines offered the following: 'The Commandant of the Marine Corps continually assesses matters associated with commanders and their units. Following his detailed review last August of the command investigation into the 17 September 2023 F-35 mishap, he made the decision to relieve the Commanding Officer of Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, due to the unique mission of VMX-1.' Despite everything, Del Pizzo remains a fan of the controversial F-35 and its technology. However, he is concerned that the outcome of his situation will send the wrong message to other pilots. 'We needed to take a hard look at that to prevent it from happening again,' Del Pizzo told Bartelme. 'In aviation, we have a culture. When there are errors, when things don't go as planned, we learn from them. If you don't do that, then you have a culture of fear. And if you have a culture of fear, then people are going to be paralyzed and not be able to make decisions. And that's how people end up getting hurt. That's how people end up getting killed.' Contact the author: howard@
