Joby flies converted Cessna Caravan autonomously across the United States

Joby Aviation has completed an autonomous, cross-country flight campaign in a modified Cessna Caravan, travelling 3,199 miles (5,150km) from California to North Carolina over several days this month, the company announced on 18 September.

The technology behind the flights came via Joby’s 2024 acquisition of Xwing, whose autonomy stack the company has continued to develop. Joby says the converted Caravan handled taxiing, take-off, en-route navigation and landing without control inputs from an onboard safety pilot, with the aircraft supervised remotely from the company’s California autonomy headquarters and from a site at Shaw Air Force Base (AFB) in South Carolina — at remote-supervision distances of up to 2,323 miles.

The eastbound tour began on 8 September with a departure from Concord, California, to Phoenix, Arizona, followed the same day by a leg to Fort Worth, Texas. On 11 September the aircraft flew from Fort Worth to Shaw AFB, before completing the final leg to North Carolina’s Outer Banks on 15 September.

According to Joby, the demonstration builds on more than 400 flights and 800 automated flight hours rooted in Xwing’s existing autonomy software. Chief executive JoeBen Bevirt described the journey as “a glimpse into a new era of aviation”, pointing to potential uses ranging from cargo delivery to remote communities and disaster response to keeping pilots out of hazardous environments.

The Caravan airframe itself traces back to Textron Inc., whose Textron Aviation segment manufactures the Cessna family of utility aircraft widely used in cargo and regional transport roles. Widespread retrofit programmes on such established platforms are one route startups are pursuing to prove autonomous flight systems on certified aircraft, rather than waiting for entirely new airframe designs to reach the market.

Joby — better known for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) passenger aircraft programme — says the Caravan will now begin a westbound return trip, with planned stops including Raleigh, Oklahoma City and Portland.

What to watch

• Completion of the westbound return journey and any additional stops announced along the route.
• Further disclosure of autonomous flight-hour totals as the campaign continues.
• Joby’s upcoming earnings updates for commentary on how the Xwing-derived autonomy programme is being integrated alongside its eVTOL development timeline.
• Any new partnerships or customer announcements involving the converted Caravan platform.

Source: original release