Hanneke Weitering is a writer and editor with AIN covering advanced air mobility and new flight technologies. She became an aviation journalist and joined the AIN team in the summer of 2022 after reporting on spaceflight and astronomy for six years at Space.com. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she moved to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in science, health, and environmental reporting at New York University&#039;s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is now based in Seattle near Boeing Field and spends her free time exploring nature in the Pacific Northwest.

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Hanneke Weitering

Joby Aviation appears to have flown a hydrogen-powered uncrewed aerial system (UAS) for nine hours straight during a June 30 mission at the ​​Pendleton UAS Range near Eastern Oregon Regional Airport (KPDT).
According to FlightAware ADS-B data—publicly available for a short time before Joby requested its removal—an aircraft registered to Joby with the tail number N30FR was flying in circles about 2 miles northwest of KPDT from 10:46 a.m. to 7:54 p.m. on June 30. FlightAware’s data, screenshots of which were <a href="https://x.com/chriswaggoner2/status/1940369863580831780">shared on social media</a>, suggests the aircraft covered 467 miles, flying at an average speed of approximately 51 mph.&nbsp;
FAA records indicate that Joby registered N30FR on April 22 and that the aircraft’s model is JAI30, serial number 001. Joby has not said anything publicly about the JAI30, but according to the FAA registry, it’s a fixed-wing, multi-engine aircraft with an electric propulsion system.&nbsp;
Photos of N30FR captured by an investigative journalist with <a href="https://hntrbrk.com/joby/">Hunterbrook Media</a> show the aircraft parked outside a hangar at KPDT surrounded by a team of crewmembers near what appears to be a hydrogen tank. The aircraft appears to be about the size of Joby’s eVTOL prototype, with a similar V-shaped tail but no vertical lift propellers mounted on the fixed wing.&nbsp;
Pictured behind the aircraft is a trailer emblazoned with an Xwing logo. The trailer appears to be the same <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/news-article/2022-10-06/human-loop-my-ride-xwings-self-flying-aircraft">mobile mission control center</a> that Xwing has been using to test remotely-piloted and autonomous flight operations with experimental modified Cessna Grand Caravans for several years. <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-06-04/joby-aviation-acquires-autonomous-flight-pioneer-xwing">Joby acquired Xwing</a> in June 2024 and inherited several of Xwing’s defense contracts. It’s unclear whether Joby’s activities at KPDT are related to any of its existing defense contracts.
Joby officials declined to comment to AIN regarding the purpose of the company’s presence at KPDT or the JAI30 aircraft program. The company also would not confirm whether the N30FR aircraft flew on hydrogen power, but all signs point to that very likely being the case.&nbsp;Last year, Joby and its subsidiary H2Fly <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-07-11/joby-and-h2fly-fly-hydrogen-powered-evtol-aircraft">flew an eVTOL aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells</a> for 523 miles, more than five times the range of the standard battery-electric JAS4-1 eVTOL model. With the kind of batteries available today, a nine-hour flight with purely battery-electric propulsion on an aircraft of this size is not possible.

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Joby Aviation appears to have flown a hydrogen-powered uncrewed aerial system (UAS) for nine hours straight during a June 30 mission at the ​​Pendleton UAS Range near Eastern Oregon Regional Airport.

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