BVLOS Permission granted for delivery flights in US
- Thread starter tleedom
- Start date
Thats fantastic news. Its could be 21st century's answer to paper boys and pizza delivery drivers.
Don't know if this is even the thin edge of the wedge - at lease in the short to medium term. The scope of the approval is limited to External Defibrillators (AEDs) and commercial packages. The article hypes up the "life saving" potential of Drone Delivery (which I applaud) but conveniently neglects to clarify the "commercial packages" aspect which I expect would be heavily restricted.
IMHO, for obvious reasons, Pizza delivery to the customer's door in suburbia is still a very long way off.
IMHO, for obvious reasons, Pizza delivery to the customer's door in suburbia is still a very long way off.
Maybe so. But alot of people thought that about Uber when they first started. Who would use it? How do you know you wont get murdered? Years later, everyone uses Uber. In NYC, the taxis, who had a monopoly, were the ones who lost, but they charged too much money, and Uber was welcomed there.
Where theres a will theres a way. Guess you gotta start somewhere.
Yeah but unlike with Drone Delivery, Uber wasn't faced with significant public disapproval - most of it was a "fake news" beat-up generated by the incumbent Taxi industry. The regular guy on the street was mad keen to get a cheaper, more convenient ride.
But I agree with you in that "you gotta start somewhere". However there are still major hurdles to be cleared before it becomes mainstream. My crystal ball says 3 -5 years minimum before Pizza delivery in the suburbs will be allowed. CBD is totally another matter because most building roof-tops (well away from the people down below) would be perfect landing spots for the Delivery drones.
Good points. Sometimes my excitement and enthusiasm about drone delivery override the reality that at this point in time, people dont want drones flying over their heads to deliver things, and that the publics perception of downsides of amateur drone pilots delivering things outweigh the upsides.
For most people, drone delivery would just be a way for them to satisfy their need to "have it now" instead of waiting for the mail delivery person to bring it a few days later. Even Amazon rarely offers same day service, mainly offering next day or 2 day even in metro areas. Pizza would need to be a "now" type of delivery, since nobody wants to eat day-old pizza.
2 things that sway governments into taking swifter actions are public opinion and money. If a politician can make his/her constituency happy, there will be a greater chance of keeping his/her job. In the drone world, this can be done by offering vital services and making them public via the media such as drone human organ delivery, and drone blood delivery. Soon, people will be asking why their desperately needed blood wasnt delivered by drone instead of a truck that got stuck in traffic. Similarly, when I shop Amazon, I usually go with vendors who can deliver Prime in 1 or 2 days. For me, waiting 3 days is so "20th century" thinking.
Money seems to catch every politicians attention. Im not saying that its a bad thing, but if something is not going to get them more votes, then they sometimes look for ways to enhance their or their campaigns financial wellbeing. Many of the lobbies in Washington are run by companies who do not have the best interests of the public at heart. Cigarettes and alcohol, just to name a couple, are 2 huge lobbies, and usually get their way when it comes to getting themselves heard by politicians. Nothing illegal about it, but I have a feeling that people will be smoking and drinking forever no matter how bad it is for them because big business wants it that way. Drones can help in so many ways and not hurt or kill as many people as cigarettes or alcohol, yet the drone industry has a weak lobby, so politicians dont listen to them. If they had a huge lobby like the military equipment providers or cigarette industry, you could bet that there would be millions of drones buzzing overhead delivering everything from pencils to Pall Malls.
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What a sad day for us. In short order flying will be twice as hard with commercial drones buzzing all over. This is the beginning to the end for the general user.
Yes indeed, that is certainly a potential outcome. If nothing else, while all this shakes out, it's going to be a wild ride. Fasten your seatbelts!
Im not sure that I agree. The only thing that I can see happening to the general user is that they will be forced to fly safer, and identify their drone. I remember when transponders started to be required to be used in all small aircraft. That didnt spell the end of small general aviation aircraft, they were just made to fly safer.
dirkclod
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