Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Two-seat light autonomous electric aircraft

Power Plant:

Electric motor

Specifications:

History:

In October 2017 a new aircraft was registered in New Zealand as the Zephyr Airworks Mule SPA. It became ZK-UZA (c/n 002 – ex N302ZX) and was registered to Zephyr Airworks ULC of Wellington.  This was a new type of aircraft developed by an American company known as Kitty Hawk, this being backed by the co-founder of Google, Larry Page, which was reported to be in partnership with the New Zealand Government.

Publicity released at the time stated the aircraft, which was believed to be the second built (the first being N301ZX), was undergoing test flights in New Zealand in the area of Port Hills and Lyttleton Harbour in February and March 2018.  The machine had twelve independent electrically-driven rotors, six fitted forward of the wing and six to the rear.  It was said to be able to carry two persons over a range of 100 km (62 miles) and was driven by another electric motor installed at the rear of the cockpit in a pusher configuration.

The aircraft was aimed at the new air-taxi industry and had been named ‘Cora’.  The parent company was named after Kitty Hawk in North Carolina and it has been stated the prototype ‘was eight years in the making’.  The machine used twelve lift motors on the wings to take off and land vertically and a single-propeller for forward fixed wing flight.  It was capable of 177 km/h (110 mph) in forward flight and would fly at altitudes between 152 m (500 ft) and 914 m (3,000 ft).

Statements released suggested the aircraft would operate on a ride-sharing program operated by the Company’s subsidiary, Zephyr Airworks. Persons involved in the development of the project included Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Kitty Hawk, who previously worked with Virgin America and Delta Airlines. The Company put the project in 2016 to the New Zealand Government, the plan being its research and development would take place in relation to certification and as a launch market due to that country’s support of renewable energy and electric vehicles.  It was reported the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority have been working with Kitty Hawk.

Dr Peter Crabtree of the MBIE in New Zealand stated in 2018 “In New Zealand we know we can’t keep using the same old approaches to meet our future challenges. We saw Cora’s potential as a sustainable, efficient and transformative technology that can enrich people’s lives, not only in New Zealand but ultimately the whole world.”

The New York Times reported that the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, had stated that air taxis were expected to operate commercial flights in three years and, in February 2018, Sebastian Thrun told the television network CNBC they could be operating within five years.  The Company has stated it was working with the New Zealand Government to commercialise air taxis and, as the machine takes-off and lands vertically, does not need a runway to operate. The New Zealand Minister for Research, Science and Innovation stated the Cora (as it is known in the United States) fitted in with the country’s aim of having zero emissions by 2050.

A further machine was registered to Zephyr Airworks of Wellington, New Zealand in late 2018 as ZK-UZB (c/n 004).

Similar aircraft are being developed by Airbus and Uber has been working with the North American Space Administration to make such a project a reality.  Similar projects are reported to be under development in China.