By Carl Engel, Chief Engineer, Wisk

Seeing Gen 6 fly for the very first time was so much more than just watching our latest all-electric autonomous aircraft hover for a minute; it is the realization of years of focused designing, building, testing, and unwavering commitment from our world-class team.  I couldn’t be prouder of this moment and of our entire team that made it happen!

This milestone is a direct testament to the people who poured their hearts, talent, and countless hours into making Gen 6 a reality. For years, our engineering, production, and test teams have been learning by doing – iterating our designs based on test and updated analysis. It also enables refining complex models to support the development of airworthy systems with the goal of FAA certification. We have pushed boundaries, solved seemingly impossible problems, and ultimately delivered an aircraft that is ready to define the next era of flight.

The Power of Six Generations

What truly sets this achievement apart is the depth of our experience at Wisk. Gen 6 is not our first attempt – it is the culmination of an iterative process that started with our early technology demonstration prototypes and includes over 1,750 test flights across our five previous generations of aircraft, both autonomously-flown and traditionally-piloted. Now, Wisk is the only eVTOL company to have designed, built, and flown six generations of full-scale aircraft.

In fact, I’m writing this on the 14th anniversary of the first flight of our Generation 1 aircraft, developed when we were a much smaller and secretive start-up, and years before the word “eVTOL” had even been coined. Some of my co-workers that brought Gen 1 to life with me are still here at Wisk, while others are continuing careers elsewhere in our shared eVTOL industry, contributing to its overall growth and maturation. It has me reflecting on how much Wisk has grown and evolved since it was started nearly 16 years ago. Every system test, every flight test point, and every issue discovered throughout development of those earlier aircraft have informed the design of Gen 6 on its path to becoming a certified product. This eVTOL-specific knowledge and experience (of both what works, as well as what doesn’t!), coupled with Boeing’s deep expertise in development and certification of some of the most advanced commercial aircraft in the world, has positioned us to design, build, and certify an autonomous, passenger-carrying all-electric aircraft that meets or exceeds commercial aviation safety standards.

The Journey Continues

Our successful hover flight at our Hollister flight test facility begins the in-flight validation of Gen 6 systems, and demonstrates that our personnel and supporting processes are ready to execute our carefully planned flight test program safely. While accomplishing this milestone can be seen as the conclusion of design and build, getting Gen 6 into flight test is really the beginning of the next chapter for Wisk. It’s the first of thousands more flights that will all provide crucial data on aircraft dynamics, control laws, structural loads, vibration, and overall system performance to confirm everything functions as intended and identify where changes are needed. We built Gen 6 to be the world's first FAA-certified autonomous passenger-carrying air taxi, and with this successful first flight, we have taken a notable step down that path.

Gen 6’s first flight also reminds us all why we chose to join Wisk, and it inspires us to continue pushing boundaries and refining our design as we take our next steps into the flight test program. I want to thank every single member of the Wisk team—it is your ingenuity and passion that will make safe everyday flight for everyone a reality. 

Check out the full uncut video of Gen 6 first flight here!