Friday, March 29, 2024

First test flight of teTra’s single-seat Mk-5 eVTOL aircraft

The Japanese aircraft manufacturing startup teTra Aviation recently unveiled the Mk-5, a fully electric personal aircraft that’s designed to be safe, quiet, and easy to manufacture. The aircraft was presented for the first time at the week-long EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021 event at the Wittman Regional Airport in Wisconsin, US.

The startup has now released the video of the first test flight conducted in California, USA, showing the Mk-5 SN2 unmanned eVTOL prototype in operation.

The lightweight personal eVTOL aircraft has a slim single-seat cabin placed between the two large wings. The front and rear wings feature a total of 32 vertical rotors for VTOL operations. Constructed from aluminum and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP), the aircraft measures 8.62 m wide, 6.15 m long, and 2.51 m high. The eVTOL aircraft weighs 488 kg when empty and has a maximum take-off weight of 567 kg.

The specifications will be updated according to Serial Number (SN), and the delivery model will be SN3 or a larger number model. The Mk-5 (SN3) is powered by a 13.5 kWh battery and boasts a top cruising speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) and a range of 160 km (100 miles). In addition, teTra will equip the SN3 with a ballistic parachute for safety measures, at least three redundant flight controllers capable of redistributing power across its 32 vertical lift props in the case of motor or flight controller failure.

The company says it has already won an unspecified number of orders for product models and plans to start delivering them to the customer from the end of 2022.