Are you interested in delivering food and drinks with your drone for cash?

[ianannase]

If I was in need of a guffaw or two I'd ask to see your business plan, but I guarantee you either don't have one, or if you do, it was written by a nine year-old.

Why would I be interested in showing you my business plan? It doesn't seem like you would have any constructive feedback.

 

[Bunny Too]

Haha feel free my friend. Don't say I didn't tell you. It's abundantly clear you haven't understood the technology or the regulation and you certainly haven't priced it all all, never mind properly. If I was in need of a guffaw or two I'd ask to see your business plan, but I guarantee you either don't have one, or if you do, it was written by a nine year-old.

Let us stay civil and polite in this thread please.

 

[microlinux]

These drones are perfectly capable of performing the deliveries whether they are considered toys or not. When drone deliveries inevitably come in a few years through major players like Amazon, I would assume there would be some kind of test in place by the FAA for these employees. If Joe Blow could pass this test, he would be just as qualified to perform the delivery.

The question is not whether they are capable of physically performing the task, it's whether they can meet any future safety requirements the FAA would set, which they almost certainly would not. What you think or assume is not what matters, what matters is what the FAA decides - and that is unlikely to be congruent with your logic.

As much as you'd like to call this an Uber-like service, the only meaningful similarity is the distributed service model. The actual implementation of that model with drone deliveries is more complex and technologically challenging. I would say this more closely aligns with autonomous Uber operations in that context. We're years away from ubiquitous deliveries from expensive purpose-built drones, much less toys.

 

[Irish-apple]

Let us stay civil and polite in this thread please.

this is very hard considering what this dudes brain is telling him is a good idea .. HMMM ! Makes you wonder why some people do not trust drones ? but I shall keep quiet and relaxed ,, if this thread continues to get worse or he gets other ideas stand well back !!!!!!!!!

 

[SaMavic]

Your package is on the way....

 

[lmel2005]

In my territory, there are about ten businessmen, searching solutions for drone delivery.

But law conditions don't help for now.

 

[ianannase]

HMMM ! Makes you wonder why some people do not trust drones ? but I shall keep quiet and relaxed ,, if this thread continues to get worse or he gets other ideas stand well back !!!!!!!!!

What are your reasons that this will not work in the future? Please enlighten me since I am deluded in thinking this possible.

 

[Irish-apple]

I actually put up a post and decided NAH ! not getting into a discussion like this as if you think this will work you go ahead buddy ,,im out of here.

 

[Former Member]

Whether the OP's idea as a profitable standalone business model is one thing, I think it's a good a concept as an adjunct to an already profitable business that relies on speedy delivery to get it's products to it's customers. A small entrepreneur could make the idea he has profitable, while all the huge corporations have to wait in line to get approved by the government.

I have been waiting for the delivery companies to start doing it large scale, but Ive heard nothing but crickets so far. Amazon Prime Air would have been the first but their system has been befallen by setbacks and legal ramifications. Amazon didnt even make it to the governments first list of approved package delivery services, probably owing to a political feud with the current administration. Amazon is currently hiring contract automobile drivers to deliver their packages by car and the drivers never even ring my doorbell. Imagine that, instead of driving your car in traffic to deliver packages for Amazon, you are a drone contractor for Amazon, and start delivering packages with your Inspire ot other commercial drone. Yes it will be out of LOS, but Im sure Amazon will have a great system to avoid NFZ's and also navi apps or software to make sure your drone gets where its supposed to go.

I think the OP has a good idea. Yes there are hurdles, and maybe alot of details to work out, but Im hoping it's the wave of the future for responsible and experienced drone operators to make some money with their drones.

Check this article out:

Amazon left off government’s first list of companies approved for drone package delivery

 

[Mossiback]

I am thinking that you would need a drone with five or more motors for safety, in case you lose one motor in flight it could be programmed to return instead of just dropping from the sky. Just make sure it can handle the weight while down one motor. This should help with insurance cost and regulatory concerns.

 

[Cybernaut]

Wait until the first time someone's kid sees a drone descending and grabs for it. Drones powerful enough to deliver 4 or 5 pound packages are going to be inherently larger and more dangerous than a Mavic. Hawks and eagles are known to attack drones, which could easily knock them out of the air. The limiting factors will be legal ramifications and liability.

In my neighborhood, we already have issues with Amazon packages being delivered to wrong addresses and packages stolen from front porches. Even if Amazon was to deliver packages to back yards, a descending drone delivering a package can be seen from a long way off. And the packages have to be delivered in open areas. That means additional opportunities for thieves. Then there are weather conditions to consider, both while delivering and after delivery. I'm a drone advocate, but I see a very limited opportunity to implement drone delivery on an effective basis.

It might work in a perfect world and a perfect environment, but that is not where we live.

 

[Marko9219]

We can quit debating this right now. It's impossible to accomplish deliveries with a Mavic Pro OK? It won't lift anything worth delivering and fly any distance with it. End of the thread. Move along please. Nothing more to look at here. Sheesh. It's like discussing if a Prius could be used to pull freight trailers up and down the freeway.

 

[Bunny Too]

We can quit debating this right now. It's impossible to accomplish deliveries with a Mavic Pro OK? It won't lift anything worth delivering and fly any distance with it. End of the thread. Move along please. Nothing more to look at here. Sheesh. It's like discussing if a Prius could be used to pull freight trailers up and down the freeway.

People debate irrelevant subjects all the time, I am ok with it as long as everyone remains polite and civil to each other.

 

[Marko9219]

People debate irrelevant subjects all the time, I am ok with it as long as everyone remains polite and civil to each other.

Yeah it was meant tongue-in-cheek to point out the absurdity of thinking a Mavic Pro could ever serve as a delivery vehicle.

 

[Former Member]

Yeah it was meant tongue-in-cheek to point out the absurdity of thinking a Mavic Pro could ever serve as a delivery vehicle.

Hey, people fish with it, drop payloads, and do a variety of other things.

 

[Marko9219]

Hey, people fish with it, drop payloads, and do a variety of other things.

Yeah but delivering food and drinks beyond the end of the restaurant's parking lot will never be one of them I'm sure!

 

[Former Member]

I am thinking that you would need a drone with five or more motors for safety, in case you lose one motor in flight it could be programmed to return instead of just dropping from the sky. Just make sure it can handle the weight while down one motor. This should help with insurance cost and regulatory concerns.

Yes, on a cost per payload/pound basis, a hexacopter would do nicely, and then you also have the redundancy of 6 motors if one or two of them fail.

Drones these days are so extremely reliable, and I can count on my hand the number of inflight motor failures I have repaired on Mavics, due to manufacturers defects. Many of the repairs are due to firmware or app glitches that occurred outside of warranty. These Mavics are consumer products but still have an outstanding reliability record. DJI's commercial and professional drones are just as, if not more, reliable than their consumer counterparts. There are companies such as General Atomics, Northrop Grumman, Textron and Boeing who dominate the military drone market but who have not even entered the consumer drone market, but things tend to trickle down from the military to civilian use. The most modern jet these days is based on an 80 year old design.

If the big military manufacturers were to get their engineering out to the masses in terms of quadcopters and larger non fixed wing types of drones, we would see an easing of legal restrictions because these companies have some of the strongest lobbies in DC, and we would see an increase in safety and redundancy, and quantum leap in engineering.

The following is a 2 year old article, but still quite interesting:

Four companies dominate the military drone market

 

[Marko9219]

I absolutely and completely believe specialized drones will enter the delivery arena soon. Just not as Mavic Pros. We will see drones in the air as commonly as we see FedEx and UPS trucks on the road. As in constantly eventually. Not just delivery but in police and security surveillance. Perimeter patrol for military and defense facilities. Time sensitive deliveries between hospitals (as in transplant organs). Dropping emergency supplies to disaster victims. It just goes on and on..

 

[Former Member]

OP, I just visited your website, http://zingdrones.com. It looks like you are already ramping up your venture, and I wish you the best of luck. You are looking to get a bunch of key people on staff, and thats going to be important to your future dynamic as more competition enters the market. You obviously have some type of entrepreneurial background, and you are building your infrastructure.

Are you marketing this venture to any investors? Shark tank? lol

 

[Former Member]

We will see drones in the air as commonly as we see FedEx and UPS trucks on the road.

Hopefully in our lifetime.

If they will be using commercial drones, I think the FAA will be expanding the laws in terms of maximum ceiling and cruise altitude. 400' for a commercial sized hexacopter wont work.