Kitty Hawk performed static load training with its Heaviside tilt propeller electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in an Agility Prime operational exercise for US Air Force (USAF) officials in May.
Matthew Croce, Kitty Hawk director of product development, told Janes on 27 June that the company did not perform flights with a person or dummy onboard the Heaviside. This is because the USAF elected to only do static load training to practise loading isolated military personnel into the aircraft. This included loading a full-weight dummy to simulate an unconscious person.
Kitty Hawk's Heaviside eVTOL aircraft is under contract with the USAF's Agility Prime effort. The company performed static load training with the aircraft to practise loading isolated military personnel into the platform. (Kitty Hawk)
Kitty Hawk's May demonstration with the Heaviside is considered Agility Prime's first operational exercise. Agility Prime is AFWERX's advanced air mobility vehicle effort.
The static load training also included USAF personnel loading themselves into the Heaviside, simulating injuries such as a broken leg or an injured arm. Croce said Kitty Hawk demonstrated the ground handling of the aircraft to show how a very small team could position the Heaviside for take-off.
The Heaviside is a fully electric, forward-swept wing, eight-rotor, fixed-wing aircraft capable of automated and remote flight. Kitty Hawk flies the Heaviside almost every day in both remote flying and autonomous modes.
The Heaviside can take off in a 9.1×9.1 m unpaved area. The aircraft has a top speed of 156 kt with a sound level of 35 dB at 1,000 ft altitude.
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