The first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) electric aircraft,
which was named the Kitty Hawk or Eagle Cat, successfully underwent its
first flight test.
This historic test flight was remotely controlled by two United States Air
Force pilots.
The US Air Force has officially declared that this pilot flight was part of
a complex remote-pilot-in-control training on eVTOL, taking place between
December 13 and December 17, 2021, in Palo Alto, California.
This is where the manufacturer, Kitty Hawk, was founded a decade ago by
Sebastian Thrun and backed by Google co-founder Larry Paige. The airline
developed Heaviside as a result of several earlier prototypes and later
partnered with the US Air Force through the Agility Prime program.
Quoted from the autoevolution page, Tuesday (25/1/2022), during this
pioneering flight, Captain Terrence McKenna, an Air Force reserve pilot,
practiced various maneuvers. From takeoff and landing, automatic hovering,
and manual flight, to fixed-wing flight and the transition to vertical
flight.
Equipped with eight variable-pitch electric propellers, the electric Cat
Eagle can reach speeds of 289 kilometers per hour. While the range of this
electric plane is around 160 km on a single charge.
For training purposes, Heaviside also features a Buddy Box setup, which
consists of two interconnected remote controls.
In this way, instructors and students can operate as external pilots, in
manual flight mode, similar to how a driver education car works: students
operate the eVTOL under the supervision of the instructor.
In an official statement, Kitty Hawk is currently pursuing a certificate
from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the US Air Force plans to
deploy this aircraft in fully automatic mode in the near future.
This military electric cat eagle can be an essential part for tasks, such as
transporting injured personnel, evacuation from hostile environments,
emergency dispatch, fire fighting, and more.
A recent flight test confirmed the Kitty Hawk's eVTOL as a future strategic
asset for the military.
