Tetra Aviation Mk-5 eVTOL is a Single-Seater Aircraft That Will Be Available as a Home-Built Kit
Many strange yet interesting technical ideas have been developed in Japan, including voice-activated refrigerators, notification glasses, flying umbrellas, and now a single-seat personal aircraft. Tetra Aviation, a Japanese company has unveiled the single-seat 33-rotor Mk5 personal eVTOL that the company plans to make commercially available as early as the third quarter of 2022.
The aircraft is a single-seater with a lift and cruise system that includes 32 vertical rotors spread along the span of the wings behind and in front of the seat, as well as a single propeller at the tail end. The chassis of the Mk5 is mostly made of aluminum, with the body made of lightweight carbon fiber reinforced polymer.
Image Courtesy: Tetra Aviation
The prototype that was unveiled at OshKosh measures 8.2 ft. in height, 20.2 ft. in length, and 28.2 ft. in width. It has a 13.5-kWh battery weighing 1,076 lbs, with a maximum take-off weight of 1,250 lbs. As a result, the pilot must weigh no more than 174 lbs in order for the aircraft to get into the skies.
Image Courtesy: Tetra Aviation
However, these statistics are based on the current prototype and that might undoubtedly change on the final production model, which may allow a 200 lb pilot to cruise at 100 mph and travel up to 100 miles on a single charge with ease.
Image Courtesy: Tetra Aviation
The safety of single-seater eVTOLs has always been a major concern. In the event of a motor or flight control failure, it has three redundant flight controllers that can distribute power to the 32 vertical lift propellers. In the event of complete systems failure, there is a built-in ballistic parachute to safely bring the aircraft back to the ground.
Tetra Aviation intends to make it commercially accessible as a home-built experimental kit aircraft, allowing you to fly one with a private pilot’s certificate in the United States. The company also intends to sell certified pre-built models. As far as pricing goes, the company has yet to reveal how much the Mk-5 will cost, but a good guess would be that it will fall somewhere within the price range of other eVTOL’s experimental home-built aircrafts that are currently on the market.
