Aviation
Flying-Car Startup Kittyhawk to Shut Down
The flying-car firm Kittyhawk, which is backed by Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, said on Wednesday that it will be shutting down.
The flying-car firm Kittyhawk, which is backed by Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, said on Wednesday that it will be shutting down.
The firm was established in 2010 to produce eVTOLs, or electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and was given its name after the North Carolina town where the Wright brothers’ ground-breaking aircraft first took flight. Sebastian Thrun, a former Google vice president and co-founder of the startup, oversaw the creation of Google Glasses and the self-driving car.
The Kittyhawk Flyer, an electric-only ultralight aircraft, was presented by the business in 2018 and was capable of carrying a single passenger up to 10 feet in the air at 20 mph. A two-person electric air taxi dubbed Cora was also being developed by Kittyhawk.
Cora is the centerpiece of Wisk Aero, a partnership that Kittyhawk and Boeing established in 2019. The strategic alliance was designed to provide both businesses a significant advantage over competing for flying vehicle and air taxi initiatives like Bell Nexus and UberAir.
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Boeing’s dedication to Wisk is unaffected by Kitty Hawk’s decision to halt operations. We are happy to be a founding member of Wisk Aero and pleased with the work they are doing to advance innovation and sustainability in the field of future electric aviation, according to a statement from a Boeing representative. We don’t anticipate that Kitty Hawk’s announcement will have any impact on Wisk’s operations or other endeavors.
