The first-ever public demonstration of a completely autonomous eVTOL flight took place on July 25. The demonstration involved the Wisk Aero fifth-generation air taxi at the EAA AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The air taxi is a fully autonomous and fixed-wing eVTOL aircraft that has been under development by the Boeing-owned company, Wisk Aero.

Engineers operated the flight at the associated airport of EAA AirVenture, Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), in front of hundreds of those attending the airshow. Each of Wisk’s aircraft is self-flying but is monitored by a team and a ground-based supervisor on the ground. The supervisor has the ability to intervene by sending the aircraft specific commands.

The flight began with the autonomous aircraft completing two separate low passes in front of the spectators. The aircraft then performed a hover maneuver before landing at the airport.