Joby Aviation celebrates first piloted transition flight in eVTOL breakthrough

US-based electric vehicle takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developer Joby Aviation is celebrating a landmark moment in its history after completing its first piloted transition flight. 

The eVTOL frontrunner confirmed on April 29, 2025, that Chief Test Pilot James “Buddy” Denham, successfully transitioned from vertical to cruise flight, and then back again.  

The breakthrough came on April 22, 2025, and has since been followed by several more transition flights with three different pilots at the controls. 

“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,” said Didier Papadopolous, President of Aircraft OEM at Joby.  

The transition from vertical to horizontal flight is the solution that many of the leading eVTOL companies are adopting including Vertical Aerospace and Archer Aviation.  

Joby AviationJoby demonstrated remotely piloted transition of a full-scale prototype for the first time in 2017 and has since conducted hundreds of unmanned transitions from vertical take-off to cruise flight. 

“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,” added Papadopolous. 

In preparation for the transition flight, Joby completed thousands of tests in its Integrated Test Lab, a ground-based facility which replicates all the major systems of the aircraft. 

PILOT-ON-BOARD TRANSITION | We’ve reached a critical milestone on our path to commercializing the Joby aircraft: flying through transition with a pilot onboard.And then we did it six more times in the past week, with three different Joby pilots experiencing transition flight… https://t.co/YsoZVS5hmi— Joby Aviation (@jobyaviation) April 29, 2025 Further testing was conducted at Edwards Air Force Base to confirm the redundancy present throughout the aircraft’s design.  

Remote pilots were able to continue safe flight and a controlled, vertical landing, even when relying on just four of the aircraft’s six propellers. 

Joby currently has five aircraft in its flight test fleet, with two delivered to Edwards Air Force Base for testing in conjunction with its defense customers. 

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. 

The Joby eVTOL aircraft is designed to carry four passengers and a pilot at speeds of up to 200 mph (321 km/h). 

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