Air taxi maker Archer fêtes first fully assembled Midnight eVTOL

Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) developer Archer Aviation has announced the completed assembly of its first Midnight air taxi – the basis on which the company will launch production and air taxi services once the craft obtains certification.

Archer announced the milestone of producing the first completely assembled version of its Midnight air taxi on Thursday. The company added the eVTOL has also acquitted itself admirably during a subsequent series of initial tests, before it was broken down for transport from the company’s Palo Alto, CA headquarters to its test flight facility in Salinas.

Read: Archer begins construction of its eVTOL air taxi manufacturing plant

An earlier eVTOL craft known as Maker was succeeded by the current Midnight iteration of the firm’s air taxi. Together, those two battery-powered planes went through nearly two years of trials as Archer altered, adapted, and improved the aircraft, and worked out the details of its certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Archer says it plans to conduct a series of ground trials ahead of the entirely assembled Midnight’s first test flights this summer. 

As the fully completed version of the air taxi that will be put through the final phases of the certification process Archer has already advanced quite far through, the Midnight eVTOL will afford the company certain advantages as it continues its work. 

Read more: Archer’s eVTOL air taxi receives FAA airworthiness criteria specs

For starters, the initial Midnight plane and successive completed models of the air tax will allow Archer to undertake in-house testing that it says will both accelerate its push toward FAA certification, and reduce the risk of unexpected developments or mishaps during the final stages of the process.

Many of the trials Archer will put its eVTOL through will anticipate those FAA experts will base Midnight’s certification on when they’re repeated during official examinations. Having the ready-for-the-big-show plane, therefore, should facilitate Archer’s authorization bid, and diminish the potential for major problems arising in it.

“Today we announced our exciting progress that the final assembly of our first Midnight aircraft is now complete and it is preparing for its flight test program,” said Archer CEO Adam Goldstein. “This aircraft will accelerate and reduce risk on our certification program, paving the way for our team to focus on building and conducting piloted operations with conforming aircraft to support the goal of entering into service in 2025.”

Archer is also already quite advanced in its preparations to manufacture Midnight and launch air taxi services using the 100-mile range eVTOL.

Earlier this year the company began construction of the production facility near Atlanta it will build the aircraft, whose manufacturing and assembly systems will be overseen by European car giant Stellantis. 

Read: Archer, United announce air taxi link between Chicago and O’Hare

And in addition to its own air taxi services Archer will offer passengers, the company has also announced it will operate eVTOL shuttles between Manhattan and Newark Airport, and downtown Chicago and O’Hare in partnership with its shareholder United Airlines.