Electric air cab 'Cora' presented
The New Zealand-based company Kitty Hawk has unveiled the 'Cora' air cab. It should be able to fly autonomously and reach a top speed of 177 km/h. The aircraft is due to take off in New Zealand in three years' time.
A company financed by Google co-founder Larry Page wants to launch a flight service in New Zealand with air cabs developed in-house. The small electric machines for two people can take off vertically and then fly like an airplane. The German company Lilium, which is developing an electric aircraft for five people, is also pursuing a similar concept. Other providers such as the Daimler-owned Volocopter from Germany or Ehang from China are focusing more on a type of giant drone.
The flight project privately financed by Page is headed by Sebastian Thrun - a German-born scientist who once co-founded Google's robot car program. The existence of the company Kitty Hawk, which develops small flying devices, was already known. So far, however, only videos of a prototype have leaked out, which has nothing in common with the machine now presented with the name 'Cora'.
'Cora' is to fly autonomously. The aircraft has twelve electric motors and should be able to fly up to 100 kilometers at a maximum speed of 177 kilometers per hour. Lilium's plans are more ambitious: its aircraft should be able to cover up to 300 kilometers in one hour with its 36 motors.
Kitty Hawk plans to launch a commercial flight service in New Zealand in three years, wrote the New York Times on 13 March 2018. Official tests of the aircraft for certification are to begin first, following an agreement with the New Zealand government. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the newspaper that the country wanted to send out a signal that its doors are open to people who want to turn great ideas into reality.
Several air cab services are already being planned, including by ride-hailing company Uber. Aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing are also working on their own small aircraft for such services.
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