Archer's Much Anticipated Flying Taxi
United Airlines Buys 100 Midnight Flying Taxis Pre-Debut
Official Midnight Unveiling in Mid-November 2022
California-based Archer Aviation will unveil the first production ready version of its eVTOL Midnight on November 16, 2022, in San Jose. This flying taxi is very successful "sight unseen", as the eVTOL technologies and the engineering underpinning it are so impressive. United Airlines has placed a down payment of $10 million to buy 100 Midnights to fly passengers to and from its major hubs. And Archer has partnered with global automaker Stellantis (Chrysler, Fiat) to develop the eVTOL and to achieve manufacturing scale for full manufacturing production of the aircraft for global sales. Midnight is a fully electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that can carry 4 passengers and a pilot. It is designed to play a significant role in the emerging urban air mobility market to particularly fly commuting passengers intracity to and from airports.
Midnight's Mission and Technologies
Midnight's mission is to carry passengers for short flights of about 20 minutes intra-city. It is capable of a series of successive short flights with only ten minutes needed for a recharge. The eVTOLs range is 100 miles on a charge. Midnight has, what Archer calls, a proprietary electric powertrain system. The technologies underpinning Midnight propelled United Airlines to buy the flying taxis early, before the actual production ready version's unveiling. Another big plus is that Archer is making progress in securing FAA certification to fly Midnight. Archer expects Midnight to be fully operational by 2025.
Archer's Smaller eVTOL
Archer has a smaller eVTOL, Maker, that is also in the development pipeline with equally impressive technologies. It's a 2-seat technology demonstrator which has flown more than 1,000 test flights since December 2022. Maker's test flight programs have provided vital data for the development of the larger eVTOL Midnight. But Archer says that it is also continuing to develop Maker as a flying taxi.
More Tech Specs and the Future
Maker and Midnight both have V-shaped tails and 12-tilt-6 configurations, with 6 tilting propellers mounted on the plane's front fixed wing and 6 aft stationary lifting propellers. Maker has a 40-ft wingspan and weighs 3,500 pounds. Midnight has a 47-foot wingspan and weighs 6,500 pounds. Both vehicles look awesome. Archer is a very hot eVTOL company that intends to provide a lot more tech data on Midnight at its official debut in mid-November.
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