Wisk! Away!
Story from Wisk! company material; photos by Ken Kula and Roland Dansereau (above photo is of “Cora” at Oshkosh at dusk)
Today’s rapid revolution and evolution into “green” or reduced emission flight has taken companies into many different directions to achieve the goal. One totally emission-less direction has been taken by a company named Wisk!
Wisk! has designed a series of electrically-driven aircraft that will act as air taxis, moving people through the sky without any exhaust, safely and efficiently. Beyond that, they envision a smart system that will operate smoothly and autonomously within a city’s infrastructure, working within existing constraints.
A definition of “wisk” is to “take or move (someone or something) in a particular direction suddenly and quickly”, another definition is: “a brief, rapid action or movement”. Their air taxi is envisioned to move people quickly and efficiently between two points.
Here’s a look at their system, through their press conference and web information, which was displayed at the EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh 2023.
Generation 5 (“Cora”) in the air over the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023
First: The Aircraft
Generations 4 and 5
“With our 4th and 5th Generation aircraft, we began testing new software, autonomy architectures, sensors, hardware and other components. The aircraft also allowed us to begin development of the broader ecosystem, such as airspace integration, infrastructure, and providers of service for AAM.”
“Generation 5 (also known as Cora) visually resembles Generation 4, with a few exceptions, such as the booms. Generation 5 also differs from Generation 4 with internal systems, such as improved sensors and software.
Years operational: 2017 – Present
Pilot Type: Autonomous
Number of Test flights: 1300+
Aircraft Type: VTOL Electric Fixed wing; lift + cruise
Key Milestones and Firsts: First-ever autonomous off-runway flight, Wisk milestone
Designed for Advanced Air Mobility –
Generation 6 mock-up
Generation 6
Mission: Passenger air taxi
Power: All-electric
Aircraft Classification: eVTOL (electric, vertical take-off and landing)
Configuration: Lift + lift/cruise
Operation: Autonomous (self-flying) with human oversight
Cruising Altitude: 2500 – 4000 feet above ground level
Dimensions: <50 foot wingspan
Range: 90 miles (with reserves) / 144 kilometers
Cruising Speed: 110-120 knots
Charge Time: 15 minutes
Seats: 4 + room for carry-on luggage items
Exterior of Generation 6
Interior of Generation 6, each seat has its own information system
Interior of Generation 6’s mock-up rear seating
Through a multifaceted approach — including autonomous flight with human oversight, a simplified design with fewer moving parts, fully redundant systems, and no single point of failure — Wisk’s aircraft is being designed to exceed today’s rigorous aviation safety standards.”
History:
“In 2010, our team set out to explore the possibilities of electric, vertical takeoff and landing flight. Since then, we have developed multiple generations of aircraft and conducted more than 1600+ test flights.
In 2023, Wisk! became a fully-owned subsidiary of Boeing. While we operate separately, this relationship allows us to tap into Boeing’s development, testing, and certification expertise, and more.
On June 26th, Wisk! made company history by completing its first public flight demonstration of their Generation 5 (Cora) aircraft in front of tens of thousands of spectators, here’s their press release:
“Wisk Aero, a leading Advanced Air Mobility company, has successfully completed the world’s first public demonstration flight of a fully autonomous, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), fixed-wing air taxi. The milestone flight, which took place at EAA AirVenture, also marked the company’s first public demonstration of its 5th Generation autonomous, eVTOL technology demonstrator (Cora). Wisk completed a multi-transition flight, during which the air taxi transitioned from hover to wing borne flight four times. The flight also included multiple maneuvers that demonstrated the unique capabilities of the aircraft, such as hover, 360-degree turns in place, and more. Video footage of the flight can be found on Wisk’s YouTube channel.”
Generation 5 being towed to its hangar Wednesday evening after its second flight of the day
Wisk! wasn’t done that afternoon, because they brought out their aircraft again and flew it at the beginning of the Wednesday evening show too.
Wisk! envisions several facilities where people will monitor flight operations, ensuring smooth flights. These are not flight control centers (like air traffic control facilities) – because the flights will be operating autonomously – but flight managers will each be monitoring multiple aircraft to check the health of each aircraft. Planes can be taken out of service for maintenance or cleaning when needed, and added back when the servicing is accomplished. Aircraft charging and endurance status will likely be monitored too.
Wisk!’s purpose and goals are: “Headquartered in Mountain View, CA with locations around the world, our vision of delivering safe, everyday flight for everyone is closer than ever to becoming reality.”
