Kitty Hawk Corporation

Kitty Hawk Corporation
FormerlyZee.Aero
Company typePrivate
IndustryAircraft
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
FounderSebastian Thrun
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Sebastian Thrun (President and CEO)
Websitekittyhawk.aero

Kitty Hawk Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer producing electric ultralight aircraft.

History

The company was founded as Zee.Aero in 2010.[1] It was supported by Google's co-founder Larry Page.[2] In September 2022, it was announced that the company was winding down, though their joint venture with Boeing, Wisk Aero would continue.[3]

Products

Kitty Hawk Flyer

The Flyer was an ultralight aircraft which was kept aloft by eight battery-powered propellers.[4][5] The engineering was led by Cameron Robertson and Todd Reichert.[6] The production Flyer was introduced on 6 June 2018. A license was not required to pilot the Flyer, as it was built under US FAR Part 103 ultralight regulations.[7] After 25,000 unmanned or crewed flights combined, using 111 aircraft, Kitty Hawk ended the programme on 3 June 2020;[8] CEO Sebastian Thrun stated that, with Flyer, the company "could not find a path to a viable business".[9]

Cora PAV

Main article: Cora by Wisk

Since March 2018, Kitty Hawk Corporation had been testing an autonomous, electric air taxi prototype in New Zealand called Cora and code-named Zee.Aero.[10][11]

In 2019, the Kitty Hawk Cora autonomous personal air vehicle prototype was split off into a joint venture between Wisk Aero LLC and Boeing, becoming the Wisk Cora.[12][13] In December 2019, the Cora team was rebranded and spun off as a separate company called Wisk Aero.[14]

Kitty Hawk Heaviside

In 2019, Kitty Hawk introduced a new aircraft called the Heaviside.[15] It is designed to be quieter than normal aircraft.[16][17]

Kitty Hawk H2 (Heaviside 2)

In 2022, Kitty Hawk introduced the 2nd iteration of its Heaviside, named H2.[18]

References

  1. ^ Capoot, Ashley (21 September 2022). "Google co-founder's flying car startup is winding down". CNBC.
  2. ^ Fiegerman, Seth (24 April 2017). "Google cofounder's 'flying car' makes its debut". CNN Money. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  3. ^ Shakir, Umar (21 September 2022). "Larry Page's flying car startup Kitty Hawk is shutting down". The Verge. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  4. ^ Markoff, John (24 April 2017). "No Longer a Dream: Silicon Valley Takes On the Flying Car". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  5. ^ Vijayan, Jaikumar (25 April 2017). "Google Co-Founder Larry Page's Kitty Hawk Venture Demos Flying Car". eWeek. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  6. ^ Graham, Jefferson (22 December 2017). "The top tech innovations of 2017". USA Today. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  7. ^ Swartz, Kenneth I. (12 July 2018). "Kitty Hawk Enters Service". Vertiflite – via Electric VTOL News.
  8. ^ Wolfsteller, Pilar (3 June 2020). "Kitty Hawk ends Flyer eVTOL programme". FlightGlobal.
  9. ^ O'Kane, Sean (4 June 2020). "Kitty Hawk abandons its Flyer project, lays off dozens". The Verge.
  10. ^ Michael Hayward. "Air taxi trials possible in six years as tech company trials flying vehicle in Canterbury". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Wisk (Kitty Hawk) Cora". Electric VTOL News. Vertical Flight Society. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Kitty Hawk Announcements". Electric VTOL News. Vertical Flight Society. 24 August 2019.
  13. ^ "After ups and downs, Boeing and Kitty Hawk reboot flying-car venture as Wisk". GeekWire. 3 December 2019.
  14. ^ Boyle, Alan (9 December 2019). "After ups and downs, Boeing and Kitty Hawk reboot flying-car venture as Wisk". GeekWire. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  15. ^ Adams, Eric (18 April 2019). "Kitty Hawk's New Flying Car Promises a (Near) Silent Flight". wired.com. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Is Kitty Hawk Introducing Range Anxiety For eVTOL Aircraft With Its Heaviside?". CleanTechnica. 13 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Kitty Hawk Reveals Ultra-Quiet 'Heaviside' eVTOL Design". Aviation Today. 4 October 2019.
  18. ^ CNET (8 February 2022). "Kittyhawk Heaviside 2 revealed!". youtube.com.