OSHKOSH—Wisk Aero conducted the first public autonomous demonstration flight of its developmental electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi July 25 during EAA AirVenture, remotely flying the aircraft for four minutes over Runway 18/36 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The fifth-generation Cora technology maturation vehicle performed two full passes over the runway, transitioned from vertical to wingborne flight and reached a height of 33 ft. above the ground. Its gross weight for both takeoff and landing was 2,400 lb. because it carried no fuel and no people.
“The final portion of the flight it came back to center stage, did a 270-deg. pedal turn, hovered there for a minute, did a little hat tip—dipped its nose to the crowd,” said Jay Pankowski, Wisk manager of operations support, who served as flight announcer. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome.”
The Cora platform has flown 1,700 test flights mainly at its base, Hollister Municipal Airport (KCVH), located 45 mi. southeast of San Jose, California. Wisk transported the Gen 5 aircraft from California on a 52-ft. Gooseneck trailer with custom-made racks, including spares, toolboxes, chargers and other equipment; it towed the mobile ground control station behind a pickup truck that it also uses for chase operations.
“The context of [the demonstration] was being the first performer after the parachuters and the National Anthem opening what is a pretty complex airshow, with a lot of fast-moving airplanes,” said Wisk Aero CEO Brian Yutko, speaking with Aviation Week. “Fitting into that environment and doing it in a non-disruptive way was a key focus for us and the team totally knocked it out of the park.”
A six-person Wisk team managed the demonstration flight. Three people were based in a mobile ground control station parked near the takeoff location on the east side of the airfield: a pilot-in-control who oversaw the flight and “hit the go button,” a flight-test engineer, and an engineer who monitored guidance, navigation, and control of the aircraft. On the flight line were a visual observer, which the FAA requires because the experimental aircraft lacks sense-and-avoid capability, a crew chief and an assistant to the crew chief.
The Gen 5 Cora has 12 electric motors and propellers for hovering, two fixed wings and a pusher propeller for forward flight. It has a two-seat cabin. Wisk is also exhibiting a mockup of its Gen 6 vehicle, a four-seat, high-wing, fully autonomous aircraft that will forgo a pusher propeller. Instead, it will have six tilting propellers in the front for vertical and horizontal flight, and six fixed propellers in the back for vertical lift.
The Gen 6 vehicle is being certified as a special-class aircraft to FAA Part 21.17(b). Although it will not initially be a fully conforming aircraft, Wisk considers it a “product,” not a prototype, that comes with the necessary foundation of systems engineering and requirements to be certified. The company, now a Boeing subsidiary, has not set a date for certification.
“What we’ve said so far is we intend to certify it and get into commercial operations this decade,” Yutko said. “It’s our job to put forward what we think is a safe system; it’s the FAA’s job to independently check it and validate it. Given how novel this all is, we don’t want to improperly apply pressure to our teams or to the other teams to meet a date. But we have internal timelines and we think that we can get the job done and start commercial service this decade.”
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