Joby Aviation has completed what it describes as the first autonomous flight across the United States, using a converted Cessna Caravan equipped with its autonomy technology. The aircraft covered 3,199 miles on the eastbound leg of a month-long Electric Skies tour, ending in North Carolina’s Outer Banks near the Wright brothers’ historic flight site, with zero control inputs from the onboard safety pilot.
The flight ran from Buchanan Field Airport in Concord, California, to Dare County Regional Airport and included autonomous taxiing, takeoff, route navigation and landing. Remote supervision came from teams in California and at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, with oversight performed from as far as 2,323 miles away.
Joby is positioning the demonstration as a test of autonomy for air logistics, including freight, medical transport, disaster response and defence support. The aircraft involved was identified by the company as J208, a converted Cessna Caravan carrying a safety pilot for regulatory reasons even though no manual intervention was required during the journey.