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 concealed it through the FAA's Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed program—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 tracking data, screenshots of which were shared on social media before it became private, suggests the aircraft covered 467 miles, flying at an average speed of approximately 51 mph.
FAA records indicate that Joby registered N30FR on April 22, and the aircraft’s model is JAI30, with 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.
Photos of N30FR captured by an investigative journalist with Hunterbrook Media show the aircraft parked outside a hangar at KPDT surrounded by a team of crew members 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.
Pictured behind the aircraft is a trailer emblazoned with an Xwing logo. The trailer appears to be the same mobile mission control center that Xwing has been using to test remotely piloted and autonomous flight operations with experimental, modified Cessna Grand Caravans for several years. Joby acquired Xwing 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 on 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 being the likely case.
Last year Joby and its subsidiary H2Fly flew an eVTOL aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells for 523 miles, more than five times the range of the standard battery-electric JAS4-1 eVTOL model. With the current battery technology available, a nine-hour flight with purely battery-electric propulsion on an aircraft of this size is not feasible.
While Joby has remained tight-lipped about its work with autonomous flight and hydrogen propulsion, the company is forging ahead with plans to launch commercial air taxi services with its all-electric JAS4-1 eVTOL aircraft. The company expects to begin air taxi flights in Dubai by 2026 before entering service in the U.S.