The aircraft took off in California and flew several legs before landing in North Carolina.
Joby Aviation, best known as a developer of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, has autonomously flown a modified Cessna Caravan across the US.
The milestone demonstrates the operational maturity of autonomous flight technology Joby acquired from Xwing in 2024, Joby said on 18 September.
It flew the converted Caravan 3,199 miles (5,150km) from California to North Carolina over several days. The journey concluded on 15 September in the Outer Banks.
Joby says the aircraft completed the eastbound tour without control inputs from an onboard safety pilot. The system handled taxiing, take-offs, route navigation and landings, while being supervised remotely from the company’s autonomy headquarters in California and from a site at Shaw AFB in South Carolina, from distances up to 2,323 miles.
The autonomous technology is “grounded in more than 400 flights and 800 automated flight hours… building directly on Xwing’s mature autonomy stack”, Joby says.
Joby’s cross-country route involved several legs. The aircraft departed Concord, California on 8 September, flying to Phoenix, Arizona. Later that day, it flew to Fort Worth, Texas.
On 11 September, the Caravan departed Fort Worth and landed at Shaw AFB. Finally, on 15 September, it completed the last leg to the Outer Banks.
“This journey across America offers a glimpse into a new era of aviation,” says Joby Aviation chief executive JoeBen Bevirt. “Autonomy has an important role to play in the future of flight, allowing us to connect remote communities, deliver critical supplies, respond faster to disasters, support military operations and keep pilots out of harm’s way.”
The aircraft will now begin a westbound return journey with stops planned in several US cities, including Raleigh, Oklahoma City and Portland, Joby says.
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