Joby Aviation has completed what it describes as the first autonomous flight across the United States, with a converted Cessna Caravan flying 3,199 miles from Buchanan Field Airport in Concord, California, to Dare County Regional Airport in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The aircraft, identified by Joby as its J208 autonomous aircraft, carried out taxiing, takeoff, route navigation and landing without control inputs from the onboard safety pilot.
The eastbound leg formed the first half of a month-long coast-to-coast demonstration tour that began in early September and continued after the announcement. The route included stops in Phoenix, Fort Worth and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, and the aircraft adjusted its path around severe weather during the trip.
Remote supervision came from Joby’s Autonomy Headquarters in California and Shaw Air Force Base, with monitoring conducted from as far away as 2,323 miles. Joby positioned the mission as a dual-use autonomy demonstration with potential relevance for freight, medical transport, disaster response and defence logistics.