Imagine you’re living in San Francisco a few years from now and in one day, you’re able to go to work at your office in downtown San Francisco, fly to Napa in 15 minutes for an incredible lunch with friends (a drive that usually takes 2+ hours because you have to go all the way around the bay), fly back and finish work and then take a 10 minute sunset flight over the Santa Cruz mountains for dinner with friends in Monterey Bay area (a drive that usually takes an hour and half+ from SF). These are the types of experiences that Archer’s Midnight aircraft is set to provide people who live in the world’s largest cities by opening up “urban air mobility” to the masses allowing people to fly above traffic via corridors in the sky. While this might not be the “flying car” we all imagined would be here by now, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
Archer’s Midnight is an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) vehicle that is designed to be safe, sustainable, quiet and, with a 1,000-pound payload, can carry four passengers plus a pilot. Midnight is optimized for back-to-back short distance trips of around 20-40 miles, with a charging time of approximately 10 minutes in-between. Archer plans to certify Midnight with the FAA and enter into service in 2025.
Archer’s unique approach to designing Midnight focuses on combining high function and high emotion, drawing passengers in with its stunning looks and unique 12-propeller configuration. Archer is confident that Midnight will lead the way in this new era of vertical flight as the aircraft marries cutting-edge electric propulsion technology with state-of-the-art aircraft systems from the world’s leading suppliers like Safran, Honeywell, Garmin and more to deliver the key attributes of its eVTOL aircraft:
- Safety. High redundancy and simplified propulsion systems make for a significantly safer aircraft compared to a helicopter. Midnight has no single points of catastrophic failure, meaning that should any single component fail, the aircraft can still safely complete its flight. In addition, the electric motors used in Midnight have significantly less moving parts than those found in a gas turbine or piston engine, allowing it to operate with less maintenance and lower overall risk and cost.
- Low noise. Developed to cruise at approximately 2,000 feet, the design of Midnight is such that the noise that reaches the ground is expected to measure around 45 A-weighted decibels (dBA), almost 100 times quieter than that of a helicopter. During forward flight, the aircraft’s tilt propellers spin on axes that are aligned with the oncoming air flow, rather than edge-wise to the flow, as is the case with traditional helicopters – further decreasing noise levels. Since Archer’s aircraft is spinning 12 small propellers rather than one large rotor, it can also spin them at significantly lower tip speeds, resulting in much lower noise levels.
- Sustainable. Midnight is all electric, resulting in zero operating emissions. Archer is committed to sourcing renewable energy wherever possible to power its aircraft. Archer’s design and engineering teams have worked tirelessly to integrate materials into this aircraft that have their own unique sustainability stories. For example, Midnight’s seats are constructed out of “flax” fiber, a natural plant which requires very little irrigation and is highly absorbent of CO2.
Archer Aviation has major partners in Boeing, United Airlines and Stellantis. Specifications and guidelines for operations have been put in place by the FAA, and Archer is currently deep into the certification process with the preeminent global administration for aviation, on track to commercialize in 2025. Alongside United Airlines, flight routes in New York City and Chicago have been announced. In partnership with global automotive manufacturer Stellantis, full-scale production assembly facilities are being built outside Atlanta, Georgia and Archer has developed relationships in countries around the globe, including the U.A.E. and India, to bring air taxi service to their countries.
Learn more at: www.archer.com
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