During Japan’s 2020 GoFly personal flight contest, a company won a one hundred-grand “disruptor award”. After a gruesome delay of months, the company has finally unveiled the commercial vehicle everyone was waiting for. The OshKosh is a single-seating 33-rotor Mk5 personal eVTOL, according to an initial report from New Atlas.
The Mk5 has only one seat; the design is centred around a simple lift and cruise with 32 vertical rotors. Wide and thin wings have been installed ahead, in addition to a single pusher propeller on the rear for once you’re ready to cruise. Aluminium is the main component of the frame; also, the body comprises a lightweight carbon fibre reinforced polymer and some aramid fibres thrown into the mix. Its prototype was revealed at OshKosh. It is 28.2 ft (8.62 m) wide, 20.2 ft (6.15 m) long, and 8.2 ft (2.51 m) tall, which means it is surely going to take up space in a typical garage.
Operating on a 13.5-kWh battery, the Mk5 only weighs 1,076 lbs (488 kg) when no one is seated in the vehicle and can take off with a load as heavy as 1,250-lb (576-kg) load. There is one catch; this only leaves 174 lbs (79 kg) for the pilot. Aspirants to fly the Mk5 who weigh more than that will have to lose weight. But this is no reason to get fearful: This catch is only for the prototype version of the single-seating aircraft. The production model will be capable of taking on a heavier 200-lb (91-lb) pilot and cruise through the air at 100 mph (169 km/h), faring distances up to 100 miles (160 km) on a single charge.
What is even more astounding is the fact that the aircraft is safe. Three redundant flight controllers have the ability to redistribute power throughout the 32 vertical lift propellers, just in case the pilot experiences flight controller or motor failure. It also features a parachute if you are soaring real high when you encounter any trouble; it would help you jump off safely. Tetra has indeed put up on display a vehicle poised to be of great significance in man’s pursuit of ditching conventional vehicles and opting for aerial ones.
No official price tag has been placed on the aircraft as of now. However, if it comes in as an expensive vehicle, maybe the “buy ‘n’ fly” personal eVTOLs from other manufacturers could be cheaper. The future is exciting for air-worthy personal aircraft, and in the years to come, it is definitely going to transform the skies of the world.