{"id":36712,"date":"2026-09-30T14:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=36712"},"modified":"2026-09-30T14:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:36:12","slug":"joby-aviation-showcases-autonomous-flight-technology-in-oklahoma-city-as-part-of-national-electric-skies-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/oklahoma\/joby-aviation-showcases-autonomous-flight-technology-in-oklahoma-city-as-part-of-national-electric-skies-tour\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Joby Aviation Showcases Autonomous Flight Technology in Oklahoma City as Part of National Electric Skies Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Laura Rudicel <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">   Oklahoma\u2019s role in the future of advanced aviation was on display as the <a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoma.gov\/aerospace.html\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/oklahoma.gov\/aerospace.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics<\/a> (ODAA) joined <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jobyaviation.com\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.jobyaviation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joby Aviation<\/a>, federal aviation leaders, and state policymakers for an up-close demonstration of Joby\u2019s autonomous flight technology at AAR Hangar 2 located on the OKC Will Rogers International Airport campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fly-in event served as the Oklahoma stop on Joby Aviation\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jobyaviation.com\/electric-skies\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.jobyaviation.com\/electric-skies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 Electric Skies Tour<\/a>, a coast-to-coast demonstration of the company\u2019s autonomous J208 aircraft. The aircraft, a modified Cessna Caravan equipped with Joby\u2019s autonomous flight technology, is being used to demonstrate autonomous capabilities for commercial, public-service, and defense applications. Joby\u2019s J208 has completed more than 400 flights and 800 automated flight hours and has participated in three U.S. military exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joby-2-edit-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36713\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2.2081656124209315;width:369px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joby-2-edit-1.jpg 870w, https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joby-2-edit-1-300x136.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOklahoma has built its aviation legacy by being willing to embrace what comes next,\u201d said Grayson Ardies, ODAA executive director. \u201cWhat we saw today is a real-world example of how rapidly aviation technology is advancing, and why it is important for Oklahoma to be part of that conversation early. By bringing together industry, regulators, policymakers and operators, we can better understand these technologies, help shape how they are safely integrated into our airspace, and position Oklahoma to take advantage of the opportunities they create.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event offered attendees a firsthand look at Joby&#8217;s J208 autonomous aircraft and portable Air Operations Center. Keynote insights from state, federal and industry leaders highlighted the potential applications of autonomous aviation for commercial freight, emergency response and defense logistics. The program concluded with the aircraft taxiing and departing Oklahoma City for the next stop on its national tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Oklahoma City stop follows a major milestone for Joby\u2019s autonomous technology. Earlier this month, the J208 completed a 3,199-mile autonomous transcontinental flight with no control inputs from the onboard safety pilot, including autonomous taxi, takeoff, cruise, and landing under remote supervision, according to Joby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Oklahoma\u2019s Role in a National Advanced Air Mobility Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Oklahoma demonstration is connected to the state\u2019s participation in the State of Utah\u2019s uFLY: America\u2019s AAM Crossroads to the West coalition under the FAA\u2019s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The eIPP was established to accelerate the safe deployment of Advanced Air Mobility technologies in the National Airspace System through partnerships among government entities and private industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oklahoma is part of the five-state uFLY coalition, and Joby\u2019s Electric Skies Tour includes stops in Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Oregon connected to the coalition. Joby states those operations are designed to evaluate autonomous flight across varied terrain, environmental conditions, and regional airspace while generating operational data that can inform future FAA integration efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State lawmakers, including Sen. Paul Rosino and Rep. Emily Gise, joined federal aviation officials, aerospace industry leaders, and other stakeholders for the demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>FAA Research Connects Oklahoma City to the Future of Flight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Oklahoma City stop also highlighted the significance of the FAA\u2019s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, located nearby, and the advanced aviation research taking place in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joby-4-edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36715\" style=\"width:291px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joby-4-edit.jpg 667w, https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joby-4-edit-300x170.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Katrina Avers, director of the FAA\u2019s Safe Operations in Aerospace Research (SOAR) Labs, spoke about the FAA\u2019s work to understand how emerging aircraft technologies, increasingly automated systems, human operators, and the National Airspace System interact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat makes Oklahoma City especially important to this conversation is that we are not only seeing emerging aviation technologies demonstrated here, but we are also conducting the research needed to understand how those technologies can operate safely within the National Airspace System,\u201d Avers said. \u201cAs aircraft become increasingly automated and new operating concepts emerge, we must understand the entire system \u2014 the aircraft, the operator, the technology, the procedures, and the human factors involved. That research helps provide the data needed to support safe, thoughtful integration as aviation continues to evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Putting Autonomous Aviation Into Real-World Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joby\u2019s J208 operates under a supervised autonomy model in which a ground-based remote pilot serves as pilot in command, supervises the flight, updates flight plans, and manages air traffic control communications. A monitoring pilot is onboard for select operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Laura Rudicel Oklahoma\u2019s role in the future of advanced aviation was on display as the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics (ODAA) joined Joby Aviation, federal aviation leaders, and state policymakers for an up-close demonstration of Joby\u2019s autonomous flight technology at AAR Hangar 2 located on the OKC Will Rogers International Airport campus. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[56,142,140,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oklahoma","category-aam-uam","category-evtol","category-front-page-slider"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/joby-1-edit-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36718,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36712\/revisions\/36718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}