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Wisk, a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, which develops urban mobility, will launch a test flight program aimed at operating Cora passengers, an autonomous eVTOL, in New Zealand within this year. .
The test flight program will be based in Canterbury, New Zealand. However, in this year’s flight, an experiment focused on accumulating know-how and collecting data for safely integrating autonomously flying aircraft into the air traffic control system will be conducted.
Wisk is already working with New Zealand government authorities and airlines to conduct simulation and data analysis. It also announced on March 29 that it has partnered with Boeing subsidiary (Insitu Pacific), which develops military unmanned aerial vehicles and related technologies.
Cora, which will be on a test flight, is an eVTOL with 12 rotors on its wings, designed to fly at altitudes of 1500 to 5000 feet. The range is only 40 km, but the speed reaches 160 km/h. It is equipped with three flight control computers, each of which can operate independently to prevent falls.
Wisk CEO Gary Gysin said in this announcement that New Zealand is at a pioneering position in autonomous UAM integration testing with a relatively uncongested airspace and flexible response to remotely controlled aircraft by early adoption of an innovative culture.
Cora’s 2020 Canterbury eVTOL passenger flight plan is still ongoing. The timing of the start is not yet known, but the New Zealand Civil Aviation Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration FAA are already issuing the Cora test certificate. Related information can be found here.
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