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Last year, Kitty Hawk and Joby Aviation received a total of nearly $ 2 million from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIUx), a Pentagon organization founded to help the US military use the emerging technologies.
Cora, Kitty Hawk's experimental air taxi, emphasizes her role in solving the challenges of urban transportation: "Cora is about the time you could save on traffic. The people you could visit. The moments that move you. "
DIUx's vision for small electric aircraft is less Back to the Future and more Blade Runner, according to a document detailing the personal air vehicle financing program, which reads," These vehicles will provide niche for specific tactical applications with low acoustic signature, near instantaneous start / stop, ability to spread an badault force across multiple vehicles and automated systems. "
Kitty Hawk Received $ 970,000 of the DIUx last January, and Kitty Hawk received $ 1 million later, according to the public procurement websites.
However, neither company seems to have run out of money. The co-founder of Google Larry Page, finances Kitty Hawk, while Joby concluded a new $ 100 million round in February using traditional venture capital firms.
Although While many start-ups and aerospace companies compete with vertical take-off and landing electric taxis (including Uber, Airbus and Boeing), Kitty Hawk and Joby are among the most advanced.
Part of Joby's FAA application.
The previously unpublished Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certificates of airworthiness detail exactly how and where aircraft are tested.
Kitty Hawk received permission for his Cora vehicle, originally called Mule Self Piloting Aircraft, to fly over a sparsely populated area around the Hollister, California municipal airport, about 60 miles away south of the headquarters of Silicon Valley. Cora combines 12 helicopter type rotors for vertical takeoff and landing, with wings and a tail rotor for traditional horizontal flight.
Although Kitty Hawk said that Cora would have a top speed of 110 mph and a range of 62 miles, his FAA app says that he can actually reach speeds of 150 mph, with a range of 19 minutes. This would correspond to less than 50 miles range, although the aircraft has 10 minutes (up to 25 miles) of reserve power. The two-seater aircraft can only carry 400 lbs of pbadengers and cargo, and flies up to 10,000 ft.
For his first tests, Cora would fly within 200 feet, and only at Hollister Airport, about three times a week. . Subsequent tests would include vertical take-off and landing, hovering and transition to normal flight up to 5,000 feet. His FAA certificate allows Cora to fly himself, with a pilot supervising him from a checkpoint in the field. He can even fly with humans on board, even if he does not pay pbadengers. Kitty Hawk must also provide a car or pursuit plane to deal with Cora.
The FAA-certified aircraft is currently undergoing flight tests in New Zealand, where Kitty Hawk has announced the launch of its commercial air taxi service. However, Kitty Hawk remains very active in the United States. In June, he unveiled a flying boat from a person called the Flyer. He also set up an undeclared subsidiary previously called Ground Ops LLC that explored participation in a federal pilot program for the integration of unmanned aircraft systems to test drones and autonomous aircraft in the United States. 39, commercial airspace. Kitty Hawk told the Guardian that he was not commenting on funding and testing for the time being
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