Wisk Prepares to Unveil Full-scale Autonomous eVTOL Air Taxi - FutureFlight

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After more than a decade of development work, Boeing-backed Wisk Aero is close to unveiling its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft. What will certainly set the all-electric aircraft apart is its ability to operate without a pilot on board. CEO Gary Gysin updated FutureFlight on why this work matters and the work that’s been done with its Cora technology demonstrator.
#aviation, #flying, #technology

[@rossnolan7283]

The usual spiel focusing on the wonderful prospect of flying to work ; 'everyday' low cost,for the masses etc --what is NOT highlighted is the clumsyness of having to be picked up by an Uber or taxi driver at your home, driven to one of those widely spaced 'vertiports' and then transfer to your 'air taxi' for a flight to another vertiport probably a long way from your work requiring another low paid Uber or taxi to deliver you to your actual destination -- the 'virtual pilot' might not have the same attitude as the passengers to a storm approaching mid flight or some other 'off design' situation -- the pax are at his mercy basically (or any kid with a jammer ) It is the take off and landing noise that is significant not the overflight at altitude and low power -- many other 'issues' exist for this ,now standard, evtol /vertiport model --concentrating air traffic into the few 'nodes' affordable for such operations and 'range anxiety' literally taken to a new level , etc etc . The dream of low cost door to\ door commuting or touring IS soluble but not by this (or the other 760 startup eVTOLs on the VFS 'directory") way. Their development history ,like that of Joby and others shows a lack of a coherent basic design philosophy with many ill advised 'stabs' at it (eg Kitty Hawk ) and trying to make cobbled up contraptions 'work' --inelegance in engineering,particulary in aircraft is a warning sign.

[@Sorrigan]

Honestly the pilot-less "its cheaper" spiel is terrifying. It's definitely not safer given the edge cases. It's like trusting your life to your iPhone. Yeah, probably fine most of the time. But it just has to fail once. The bigger airlines are mostly automated, sure, but the pilot is still excessively trained for a reason. The automation simplifies the plane, it doesn't make the pilot redundant.

[@ferittuzer4629]

@@Sorrigan these will be monitored by someone on the ground until you and your ilk feel safe enough about them.

[@ryansmithza]

General aviation facilities are going to love this 😂

[@frederikkruger]

Question: why do have a red strobe light on the nose and not on the left wing ?

[@gilbertocorrea667]

Revolução no transporte aereo .

[@vulturnuszan]

to really open up this space we need some real leaps forward in battery tech and power grids that are producing more green energy. Current lithium batteries have a big carbon footprint and aren't performing as well as they need to.

[@frederikkruger]

No pilot is a questionable advantage: how would you react to a TCASS RA, in a sky where you share it with other conventional aircraft especially if one pilot on the ground has to manage more than one vtol ? Speaking of workload : I think you are adding to the problem with a goal like that - not just on your side but also on the side of the pilot that actually sits in a real cockpit…

[@morthomer5804]

So, let's congest the air space

[@mccow56]

Will you be able to transition to Tesla Free Energy and ditch the batteries?

[@eastindiaV]

Whisk-Ey Tax-ey

[@nikobelic4251]

93% of aviation is automated.
Please cut the crap. These X % of aviation is automated is just bogus numbers.
Now, saying the autopilot is on 93% of the flight is one thing
(even this varies from flight to flight and depending on the pilot)
But the pilots are telling autopilot what to do every step to the way.
Claiming 93% of aviation is automated is like saying 99% of essay writing is automated because of word Processor.
The pilots are flying the plane using the automatio.
Plus where did they get 93% from? I’ve heard 70% 60% 90% 100%
It’s some random statistic they pull out with nothing to back it.

[@davidreyburn5548]

Good luck getting FAA certification without a pilot in the aircraft

[@djcb4190]

You have no business right? So let there be no business..

[@cabledrone9348]

This power line powered passenger drone (a.k.a cable drone ) could be another alternative: ruclips.net/video/unKaU5FyDrw/видео.html

[@pat14162]

Ridicule !!! ces ingénieurs ne savent plus quoi inventer comme conneries