Wisk talks safety, looking forward to Gen 6 aircraft
Wisk’s Gen 6 aircraft joins others at the forefront of eVTOL development but seeks to make an impression as an autonomous four-seat taxi. The aircraft prioritises ride quality, with a quiet environment and quick transitions between the helicopter-like take off and plane-like flight.
The taxi will operate autonomously with human insight, sticking to pre-surveyed routes. “I think of it like a gondola in the sky,” explained CEO Brian Yutko.
Wisk is focused on safety, taking advantage of the industry’s thorough certification and regulatory pathways. Aviation’s relative safety, Yutko said, is “made possible, of course, by the companies and the engineers and the technicians that build these systems in the first place, but it’s also made possible by a vigorous regulatory environment that sets an extremely high safety bar.”
He added, regarding Wisk’s Gen 6, “We’ve seen some great progress with the FAA on that front and we’re really excited to be pioneering that certification pathway.”
The Gen 6 is currently aimed at passenger travel, but as Yutko pointed out, the technologies that support the aircraft are applicable in other markets, like medical transportation. “We in this industry are in this really amazing place of technological convergence, and there’s going to be so many more opportunities for people to use aviation for productive means, and to do it in a very sustainable way,” he added.
Wisk will be flying the Gen 6 later this year, and with the certification programme in process, they plan to enter into service later this decade.
