An agreement between the New Zealand Government and Wisk is announced to establish the world’s first passenger-transport trial, featuring Cora. The agreement gives Wisk the mandate to safely test and develop a commercial unmanned aircraft service for passenger transport that will be fully integrated into existing airspace in urban areas in New Zealand. This agreement is a symbol of the NZ/Wisk partnership to reach a new frontier in urban mobility together.

Our name may be different, but our vision of delivering safe, everyday flight to the world remains the same. Led by CEO Gary Gysin, Wisk is a new company established as a joint venture between The Boeing Company and Kitty Hawk Corporation. The Cora team is the foundation of Wisk and together we work towards a future where you can save time by safely soaring over traffic.

At the centre of the New Zealand Government’s Integrated Airspace Trials, Cora is announced as the first industry partner to work with the Government on a passenger-transport focussed trial. It’s part of New Zealand’s progressive programme to lead the way in accelerating the integration of advanced unmanned aircraft. The trial to further develop and safely test the aircraft is expected to propel Cora closer to entering the air taxi market in NZ.

Kitty Hawk Corporation and The Boeing Company announce a partnership to collaborate on future efforts to advance safe urban air mobility. This is exciting news for us and has a direct positive impact on advancing Cora even further.

While component and system testing on the ground is critical to our success, flight testing also provides invaluable lessons learned on our path to providing safe, everyday flight for everyone. In March, we celebrate an important milestone—we successfully completed the 1,000th test flight of our full-scale prototypes.

Cora’s new hangar and the base of New Zealand operations was officially opened by NZ Government Minister the Honourable Dr. Megan Woods. It was also an occasion where the community, local school, and indigenous tribe (Ngāi Tahu) connected and met Cora. The hangar is more than ‘bricks and mortar’ — it’s a symbol of Cora’s growing presence in New Zealand, supported by a growing team.

One year after arriving in New Zealand and Cora has a special new partner — a top-rated airline, which cares about the planet and excels in customer service. An agreement between national carrier Air New Zealand and Cora’s Kiwi operator, Zephyr Airworks, signals the start of a long-term relationship to bring the world’s first ever air taxi service to market in New Zealand. With the airline’s wealth of operational expertise and Cora’s innovative technology, it’s a winning combination.

Up to this point, we’d kept Cora constrained to simple flight operations within an airport environment to simplify test operations and mitigate risk. After developing some additional capabilities and completing a lot more testing, we were ready to have her leave the airport. Cora vertically took off, transitioned to wing borne flight, departed from the airport, and returned for a vertical landing. It was incredible!

After almost eight years of exploring new frontiers, we had built the aircraft we had been dreaming of: Cora. An electric, autonomous fully fledged air taxi that takes off like a helicopter and flies like a plane. The first step to a world where the freedom of flight belongs to everyone.

We arrived in New Zealand. With its innovative spirit and forward thinking regulatory environment, New Zealand and her people are the perfect partners. We couldn’t be more excited to collaborate on a new era of everyday flight.

After 18 months of developmental flight tests and 7 years of company investment, we were ready to execute our capstone flight: vertical takeoff, transitioning to forward flight, and safely returning for a vertical landing. Our test pilot became the first person to go from hovering over the ground to soaring through the air on our aircraft.

With the FAA observing as part of their Special Airworthiness Certificate approval process for unmanned aircraft, our fourth generation prototype lifts off vertically, settles into a hover, then touches down on her maiden flight, all autonomously. Introducing Cora, our self-flying 2-place, all electric, vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.

After a configuration change leading to our third-generation prototype, we had a piloted aircraft capable of demonstrating our eVTOL mission: takeoff into a hover, fly on the wing like an airplane, and land vertically. We first expanded the fixed-wing envelope similar to what we did previously. Then came the next breakthrough moment, our first vertical takeoff and landing using our 12 battery-powered lift fans!

World’s first flight of an all-electric, battery-powered, fly-by-wire, piloted aircraft. We knew our long-term goals included people in our airplanes, either piloting them or as passengers. To fully embrace the safety-critical approach, we actively shaped our culture and designs early on by creating a piloted prototype. Multiple pilots flew conventional takeoff and landing flights, demonstrating safety-critical systems, avionics, and software that would be leveraged in future prototype generations.

Before we could take the next step, we had to prove that a complete transition from vertical take-off to forward flight was possible. After four years of hard work, we did it. Our aptly named POC (proof of concept), completed the first unmanned transition.

The first step on the path toward transition was hovering. It might sound simple, but for an electric aircraft of this size, it was a major breakthrough. We knew we were onto something big.

We came together with a big vision. An electric and autonomous air taxi that could transition from rising like a helicopter to flying like a plane. A design we believed could make flying so easy and so accessible you could do it every day.