self-flying eVTOL ‘wisk’ flies 4 people up to 4,000 feet in air at 120 knots
No pilot needed to self-flying evtol ‘wisk’
Calling a taxi to avoid traffic has taken a new turn. After over a decade since its first launch, air mobility company Wisk Aero has finally unveiled Wisk, its 6th-generation eVTOL that is self-flying, four-seater, and all-electric. It took the company six generations of aircraft design starting in 2011 before it could produce the eVTOL it desired today, learning as the whole team went and constantly applying techniques acquired from the previous aircraft. The flying taxi, thanks to its cab color, looks giant thanks to its over 50-foot wingspan. It is all-electric that can be charged in just 15 minutes, has a range of 90 miles (with reserves) or 144 kilometers, can fly up to 4,000 feet above ground level, has a cruising speed between 110 and 120 knots, and has a room for carry-on luggage items.
images courtesy of Wisk Aero
Simplified design with no moving parts for safety
Even if the pilot or the passengers in the front row do not know how to maneuver Wisk, it will not be a problem since the eVTOL is fully autonomous with human oversight on the ground. Passengers can just sit back and enjoy the landscape view from above. If they are still fearful that something might happen, Wisk Aero assures them that Wisk has ‘a simplified design with fewer moving parts, fully redundant systems, and no single point of failure.’ This also entails that the company has decreased the number of flight-critical moving parts from their eVTOL that could contribute to the high-risk of failure. As the company explains, ‘fewer moving parts means fewer points of failure.’ Inside, the 6th-generation eVTOL Wisk has a larger and spacious interior to accommodate the four passengers and their pieces of luggage.
self-flying eVTOL Wisk
Over a decade of development for wisk
Gary Gysin, CEO of Wisk, says that in 2010, he and his team set out to find a way to skip traffic and reach their destination faster. No cars, just aircraft. This desire evolved into a pursuit to create a flying taxi for everyone. They have tried to make this happen through the development of five different generations of full-scale aircraft that has led to the creation of the recent Wisk. ‘Our 6th Generation aircraft is the culmination of years of hard work from our industry-leading team, learnings from our previous generations of aircraft, and the evolution and advancement of technology,’ he adds. Wisk is backed by two aviation companies, The Boeing Company and Kitty Hawk Corporation, which help them with aircraft development, scale manufacturing, and certification.
self-flying eVTOL Wisk is all-electric that can be charged in just 15 minutes
it has a range of 90 miles (with reserves) or 144 kilometers
