Joby Field Trip Soars

When Joby Aviation lifted the curtain at their exclusive facility tour in Marina on October 13, 2022, there were no doubts remaining of the commitment, deliverables, and vision of the entire Joby team.

Some 200 bankers, investors, aviation companies, and public officials were thoughtfully guided through the “pilot production” facility, the test bed for major production that will enable Joby to scale rapid aircraft production worldwide. The comprehensive tour included areas for tooling, composite layup, curing, examination and testing of each part, and a modular production line. Even the “clean rooms” were opened for viewing.

Joby’s partnership with Toyota left no doubts about how automation insures quality, safety, and scaled production. We viewed an Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) system - a robotic layup machine - the size of an 18 wheel semi truck making micron-precise placement of carbon fiber strips (imagine a giant that is able to thread a needle). We viewed how each material part was labeled, bar coded, laser guided, tracked in a database as it was assembled to ensure consistent quality from start to finish.

As remarkable as the technology was, the employees were even more so. We met and talked with employees from Delta, Toyota, Apple, Tesla, who were energized with a bright, passionate vision and commitment to the future they were building. As CEO JoeBen Bevirt and Bonnie Simi / Head of Air Operations and People call it, '“the heart” that every employee and partner brings to work every day that is the soul and spirit of the Joby culture.

We ended the 5 hour tour with a demonstration of the aircraft in flight. The aircraft flew 6 times around the Marina airport, followed closely by two “chase” crafts: a private 4 seater aircraft, and a 4-seater helicopter. The objective of this carefully scripted flight was to show the audience just how quiet the Joby craft was compared to disruptive noise of conventional aircraft. When the Joby craft finally solo’d the route, all we could hear was a “whoosh” like the sound of leaves blowing in a warm summer wind. The future of aviation is Joby.

Photographs were only allowed in the public area.