Wisk Aero (formerly Kitty Hawk) Cora (Generation 4)

Cora (Generation 4)
Wisk Aero LLC.
Mountain View, California, USA
www.cora.aero

Wisk Aero was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk Corporation and is headquartered in Mountain View, California, USA. The goal of the company is to manufacture autonomous electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with zero emissions, for advanced air mobility (AAM) and air cargo. The company recognizes that self-flying cars will not be the first to market but expects to be the first autonomous eVTOL passenger aircraft to market. Kitty Hawk Corporation purchased Zee Aero aircraft and its technology and intellectual property rights in March 2018.

The joint venture was to manufacture Kitty Hawk's Cora eVTOL passenger aircraft and with a goal to operate one of the world's largest urban air taxi fleets in the world, for use in United States, Europe and Asia. In February 2022, Boeing invested another $450 million in Wisk Aero. It was reported in late 2019, that some of Boeing's executives are already on Wisk Aero's board.

The Cora is a crewed subscale fourth generation technology demonstrator aircraft working towards a final production design and to determine if the aircraft will function in a real world setting. This first technology demonstrator holds one test pilot and is expected to be an autonomous aircraft for the production model. It is unknown if this aircraft flies autonomously.

Technology demonstrator aircraft are typically used for new unique aircraft to help inventors to flight test the aircraft, collect flight test data and to move the aircraft forward for to a production aircraft. At this stage, the company is beginning to develop a plan for a manufacturing plants to produce the aircraft.

The cabin has a canopy over the cockpit providing excellent forward, left, right and upward views for the passengers. The aircraft has one low wing for lift during forward flight. The low wing will greatly increase the range of this battery-only powered aircraft. There is one rear pusher propeller for forward flight. Six booms have been installed under the low wing which hold a grand total of 12 VTOL propellers. This makes a total of 13 electric motors on this aircraft. There is one twin tail boom which has a continuous metal design which forms into two vertical upward stabilizers which then continue on to form the horizontal stabilizer. The aircraft has fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear for take off and landings.

The company reported in 2021 that over 1,500 test flights has been made with their aircraft. The company expects its autonomous eVTOL aircraft for air taxi service, for other types of passenger air mobility missions and for autonomous air cargo transportation.

Specifications:

• Aircraft type: eVTOL proof of concept passenger aircraft
• Piloting: 1 pilot or autonomous
• Capacity: 1 pilot and 1 passenger
• Cruise speed: 110 mph (180 km/h)
• Range: 62 mi (100 km)
• Flight Time: Unknown
• Maximum altitude: 3,000 ft (900 m)
• Propellers: 12 VTOL propellers, 1 rear pusher propellers
• Electric Motors: 13 electric motors
• Power source: Batteries
• Fuselage material: Unknown
• Windows: 1 large canopy type window over the cockpit
• Wings: 1 low wing, with 6 booms under the wings to hold the VTOL propellers
• Tail: 1 twin tail boom and at the end has continuous metal forming two vertical upward stabilizers forming the horizontal stabilizer
• Landing gear: Fixed tricycle wheeled landing gear

Company Insights:

• Pitchbook
• Crunchbase
• MarketWatch
• Tracxn

Resources:

• Wisk website
• Wisk Facebook
• Wisk Twitter
• Wisk YouTube Channel
• Wisk Instagram
• Wisk LinkedIn
• FAA Certification: N301XZ
• Article: Larry Page’s Flying Taxis, Now Exiting Stealth Mode, NY Times, Mar. 12, 2018
• Video: Meet Cora, Kitty Hawk, Mar. 12, 2018
• Article: Kitty Hawk unveils Cora aircraft for eVTOL air taxi market, Flight Global, Mar. 13, 2018
• Article: Air taxi trials possible in six years as tech company trials flying vehicle in Canterbury, Stuff, Mar. 13, 2018
• Tweet: Evolution of @kittyhawkcorp eVTOL, Twitter, Mar. 13, 2018
• Article: Ready for liftoff? Two flying taxi startups got Pentagon funding, The Guardian, July 10, 2018
• Article: Kitty Hawk Announcements, Electric VTOL News, Aug. 4, 2019
• Article: Kitty Hawk Reveals Heaviside, Electric VTOL News, Nov. 4, 2019
• Article: Teaming for Transformative Vertical Flight, Vertiflite, November/December 2019
• Article: Boeing and Kitty Hawk Launch eVTOL Joint Venture Wisk, Aviation International News Online, Dec. 3, 2019
• Article: Boeing and Kitty Hawk to develop Cora eVTOL under Wisk joint venture, eVTOL Magazine, Dec. 3, 2019
• Video: Wisk – We’ve Arrived, Wisk, Dec. 12, 2019
• Video: Wisk - Meet Cora, Wisk, Dec. 12, 2019
• Article: Cora + Boeing = Wisk, Electric VTOL News, Jan. 1, 2020
• Article: Cora + Boeing = Wisk, Electric VTOL News, Jan. 3, 2020
• Article: Wisk’s electric air taxis will fly themselves, says CEO, eVTOL Magazine, Jan. 20, 2020
• Article: Cora Down Under and Autonomous, Electric VTOL News, Mar. 3, 2020
• Article: Financing the Electric VTOL Revolution, Electric VTOL News, Jun. 17, 2020
• Article: Wisk Announces First-Of-Its-Kind Partnership With NASA To Create New Framework For Autonomous Passenger Flight, eVTOL Insights, Nov. 16, 2020
• Article: Wisk’s self-flying air taxis are Boeing’s ‘singular play’ for urban air mobility, eVTOL Magazine, Mar. 19, 2021
• Article: Electric self-flying taxi on display, as Christchurch shows off future of air travel, Stuff (New Zealand), Apr. 17, 2021
• Article: eVTOL Insights Podcast: Anna Kominik of Wisk talks more about its work in New Zealand, eVTOL Insights, June 3, 2021
• Video First Piloted eVTOL Transition (August 2017, Generation 3), Wisk Aero, Aug. 30, 2021
• Article: Wisk’s First Piloted eVTOL Transition, eVTOL Magazine, Aug. 30, 2021
• Article: Absent 797, Boeing bets on Wisk's autonomous moonshot, The Air Current, Jan. 24, 2022
• Article: Wisk Aero secures $450M from Boeing to advance autonomous eVTOL aircraft, eVTOL Magazine, Jan. 24, 2022