Archer Aviation unveils production aircraft Midnight

Archer has unveiled its pilot-plus-four-passenger production aircraft Midnight.

The Palo Alto-based firm revealed the aircraft during an open house event on Wednesday (November 18th ).

Midnight is the evolution of Archer’s demonstrator eVTOL aircraft, Maker, which has validated its twelve-tilt-six configuration. Capable of carrying a payload of over 1,000lbs, Midnight has been designed for back-to-back short distance trips of around 20miles, with a charging time of approximately 10mins. 

Work to certify Midnight with the FAA should be complete in late-2024 and Archer will then use the aircraft as part of its UAM network, planned for launch in 2025. 

“From day one Archer’s strategy has always been about finding the most efficient path to commercialising eVTOL aircraft,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO. “We believe our strategy and team’s ability to execute on it has allowed us to establish our leadership position in the market, and is why we are confident we will be the first company to certify an eVTOL aircraft in the US with the FAA.”

Midnight has no single critical points of failure, so should any single component fail, the aircraft can still safely complete its flight. Capable of cruising at approximately 2,000ft the noise that reaches the ground should measure around 45 A-weighted decibels (dBA), almost 1,000 times quieter than a helicopter.

Archer has tired to use sustainable material to construct Midnight where possible. For example, Midnight’s seats are constructed out of “flax” fibre, a natural plant which requires very little irrigation and is highly absorbent of CO2. The Midnight also includes fabric made from recycled contents like plastic bottles.

Mark Mesler, Archer’s CFO, said: “We continue the push towards commercialisation, with the vast majority of our resources focused on completing the development and certification of Midnight, building out our manufacturing and supply chain capabilities and hardening our go-to-market plans.”

In August, Archer completed Midnight’s preliminary design review covering all aspects of the aircraft’s specifications and manufacturing requirements, which enabled it to determine that the design is feasible for Type Certification and commercialisation.

Archer is on schedule to complete a full transition flight of Maker in the coming weeks, a year on from its first hover flight.