MightyFly, a US company developing autonomous cargo aircraft for expedited logistics, has announced that it has become the first large autonomous cargo eVTOL company to receive an FAA flight corridor approval in the USA. MightyFly started flight testing the Cento aircraft at the beginning of the flight corridor in March, making rapid progress with its flight testing programme, according to the company.
“This FAA approval was confirmed via Freedom of Information Act inquiry in late March based on certification on January 25th, 2024, and includes the Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) for a flight corridor of up to 5,000 ft in altitude between the New Jerusalem and Byron Airports in California and a Special Airworthiness Certification (SAC) enabling the company to test Beyond Visual Line of Site (BVLOS) capabilities while using a chase airplane,” said the company.
This flight corridor unlocks the potential for MightyFly to advance its flight testing capabilities, perform autonomous A-to-B flights within the general aviation airspace, test aircraft range, test long-range Command and Control (C2) datalink communication, and to test future Detect and Avoid system for BVLOS flights.
“From a business development perspective, MightyFly’s SAC market survey authorization allows the company to start demonstrating point-to-point autonomous delivery flights and carrying out proof of concept (POC) programs with customers and partners,” said the company. “This COA is a key enabler for MightyFly to position itself as a B2B expedited logistics industry disruptor.
On March 4, 2024, MightyFly started flying the 2024 Cento, its third-generation autonomous cargo aircraft, at the corridor’s origin airport. To date, the 2024 Cento has completed over 30 autonomous flights in a span of a few weeks.
The flight test campaign began after a series of ground tests were conducted both at MightyFly’s headquarters and at the test site. Those tests followed the public unveiling of the 2024 Cento aircraft in late January. The flight test campaign will incorporate A-to-B flights and showcase autonomous deliveries of various use cases. MightyFly will start demonstrations of delivery flights of medical and pharmaceutical supplies, spare parts and manufacturing components, and fast-moving consumer goods inside its flight corridor and expand to additional use cases and markets.
Under a contract with the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification, MightyFly will publicly demonstrate point-to-point autonomous cargo delivery flights to partners and potential customers in Michigan. The company is also planning to demonstrate flights to the U.S. Air Force, showcasing its autonomous loading, unloading, and balancing of packages capabilities.
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(Image: MightyFly’s third-generation aircraft, the 2024 Cento, performing autonomous test flights at one end of its flight corridor in California, in March 2024)
