Is It a Plane, Helicopter or a car!
Larry Page, Google co-founder, has been secretly testing an electric autonomous aircraft in New Zealand, as part of a new flying car start-up. Larry Page’s Kitty Hawk of Silicon Valley has visions of their Cora aircraft forming the basis of airborne taxi service in the coming years, as the electric aircraft is intended for use as part of a transportation service instead of sales to individual users.
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand Prime Minister unveiled the new venture, to make future “ where the freedom of flight belongs to everyone” in the same way that the Wright Brothers initially took off in North Carolina. “Cora rises like a helicopter and flies like a plane, with the use of 12 lift fans for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) eliminating the need for a runaway, and could take off or land from rooftops”, according to the company website. Cora will use the self-flying software in conjunction with human oversight to make flying possible even for people with limited skills or training.” Once it’s in the air, a single propeller drives Cora, with a wingspan of 36 feet/ 11 meters flies at about 110 miles per hour/ 180 kilometres per hour, between altitudes of 500 and 3, 000 feet, with the help of three independent flight-computers and can navigate even if one goes down, while each rotor works independently and just in case things really do go wrong the plane has a parachute for landing without its fans. The fixed-wing plane works on a single propeller and can travel up to 62miles about 100 kilometres.
The convergence of technologies like electric motors, batteries, drones and autonomous navigation systems has attracted big guns like Uber and Airbus to invest in vehicles that can fly themselves, removing the need for a trained pilot.
The capability of vertical takeoff and landing promises to open transportation options for commuter services and drone deliveries.
Kitty Hawk is run by former Google X head Sebastian Thrun.
“ We are offering a pollution free, an emission-free vehicle that flies dependably, we think this is the logical next step in the evolution of transportation” Zephyr chief executive Fred Reid.