Wisk Aero announced last Friday (October 6th), its autonomous fifth-generation eVTOL named Cora, has begun flight trials at the Long Beach Airport in Los Angeles. Brian Yutko, the company’s CEO, pointed out, “The location does not mean Wisk will launch commercially in the city.”
These trials represent another important step for the company towards gaining Type Certification from the FAA for its next sixth next-generation eVTOL aircraft.
Wisk, a subsidiary of Boeing, unveiled the four-passenger autonomous Gen 6 a year ago. Apart from the type Certification after meeting all of the Agency’s design and safety standards, the company needs to receive operational approval and supervisor qualification before it can commercially fly and operate an air taxi service.
At present, Wisk has an experimental certification from the FAA for its fifth-generation, which allows the company to test the aircraft. Los Angeles is the third trial location. Wisk also trialled the Gen 5 earlier this year in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and out of the San Luis Obispo Airport, California. Yutko said Wisk will likely test in other areas as well.
Yutko told TechCrunch.com, “Testing goes well beyond the aircraft. You have to be able to get the people and the systems working together in real environments to learn and iterate. This is real-world autonomy we’re talking about.”
Brian Yutko
It is important to emphasise that compared to the majority of eVTOL companies who will use onboard pilots to fly their aircraft, Wisk, like China-based EHang and Xpeng, will be flying its craft autonomously.
Wisk is presently building the sixth-generation aircraft and is hoping to receive an experimental certification from the FAA by 2024. Yutko stated the Gen 6 should be flying at the next UP Summit, to be held in Bentonville, Arkansas in a year’s time.
Other eVTOL companies are also “cranking up test flights”. Joby announced last week it has started piloted trials of its pre-production prototype aircraft in Marina, California. Previously, a majority of Joby’s test flights were limited to remotely piloted maneuvers from a ground control station.
Four pilots completed a series of trials to gain information on the aircraft’s handling and pilot controls. Tests included tasks and maneuvers that pilots would need to accomplish in real-world operation such as vertical takeoffs, transitioning to forward flight, decelerating and landing.
Chief Test Pilot James Denham commented, “After completing more than 400 vertical take-offs and landings from the ground, it is a privilege to sit in the cockpit of our aircraft and experience first-hand the ease and intuitive nature of the design that the Joby team has developed.”
Meanwhile, in August, the FAA issued Archer a Special Airworthiness Certificate for its Midnight aircraft, enabling the company to begin flight test operations.
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(News Source: https://techcrunch.com)
