End of this hobby for all of us ?

[pnwbikerboi]

To counter some of the "it's a long way off" comments here about range, weather and noise, I saw this mil-spec drone announced today:

Anduril - Ghost 4 sUAS

Ghost 4 is an autonomous VTOL sUAS that operates on the Lattice AI platform. Ghost 4 is modular, man-portable, waterproof, and combines long endurance, high payload capacity, and a near-silent acoustic signature for a wide variety of mission capabilities.

www.anduril.com

Very quiet, water proof and 100 min flight times

Surely commercial is only a couple of years behind at worst - maybe less with the $$$ AMZ can throw at it to own the home delivery space?

commercial companies build military equipment, military does not have a production line. Civilian market already has access to this type of equipment.

 

[minoe]

Tesco drone deliveries.
Pie in the sky I say.

 

[hiflyer201]

I can't believe that the FAA has granted them a 135 certification. They may have started the process but we'll see where that goes.
That being said... Air Space would be restricted in a big way along with all trees, power lines, flag poles, high rise, ..you can see where this is going..should we be scared...uh probably

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Was watching Russ on 51Drones on youtube last week. He was on about Amazon getting a licence for automated drone deliveries and how legislation will eventually force hobbyist flyers from the sky to keep the low altitudes free for amazons drones. I thought , yeah not my problem in misty ole Ireland. Boy was I wrong

Airborne groceries? Tesco to trial drone deliveries

The supermarket chain is teaming up with a drone start-up to deliver groceries faster.

www.zdnet.com

Flippin supermarkets will now be delivering your loo roll or butter by drone shortly.
Big money is gonna outlaw us pilots to the back and beyonds shortly.

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Was watching Russ on 51Drones on youtube last week. He was on about Amazon getting a licence for automated drone deliveries and how legislation will eventually force hobbyist flyers from the sky to keep the low altitudes free for amazons drones. I thought , yeah not my problem in misty ole Ireland. Boy was I wrong

Airborne groceries? Tesco to trial drone deliveries

The supermarket chain is teaming up with a drone start-up to deliver groceries faster.

www.zdnet.com

Flippin supermarkets will now be delivering your loo roll or butter by drone shortly.
Big money is gonna outlaw us pilots to the back and beyonds shortly.

Just register yourself as a Company delivering loo paper, too! Then wander off to the park, along the river and into the countryside ..... with your drone, of course!!!! ????????

 

[Starz]

Anyone that has a business is well aware of what can be classified as a tax deduction. Jeff is by no means a dummy or a mental midget.
In my mind, this entire silly venture is, and was always, planned as just that. A tax dodge. Simple business decision. His accountant team is laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[CaveDrone]

Well, I am beginning to see the writing on the wall so I sold my Mavic pro but I still have my EVO 1. Not going to buy anymore drones unless I decide to get a 107 then I will get a Mavic 2. Started taking Sport Pilot lessons instead, in a Airborne Trike. Better IPV (In Person View) anyway.

 

[MA2 317]

It's old news but Amazon will be busy as a bee with the proposed hives....

Amazon's delivery drone hive patent is an urban planning nightmare

Amazon drone towers don't match with the economics of warehousing

www.popsci.com

 

[G Randy Brown]

How would a drone know I received the package & not some random passer-by who could take it & the drone if it lands.

I would imagine as they do now, the drone would surely have a camera to verify even if it required ID with the signature.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Good point G Randy Brown but nothing to stop someone steeling it as long as they cover the camera unless the drone is to big to stuff in a van if they can't get at the parcel.

 

[Aerialskape]

How many will be brought down and the delivery it’s carrying be stolen. Also as others have said, how will they prove delivery has been made? Enough deliveries already ‘fail’ to arrive!

 

[Starz]

taking Sport Pilot lessons instead

You will not be disappointed. Flew ultralights in late 80’s. Best toy I ever had. Pontoons flying off a lake. Best fun you can have sitting down.

 

[G Randy Brown]

Good point G Randy Brown but nothing to stop someone steeling it as long as they cover the camera unless the drone is to big to stuff in a van if they can't get at the parcel.

I didn't even think about what could/would happen if the drone had to get close enuf that it could be grabbed

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Anyone that has a business is well aware of what can be classified as a tax deduction. Jeff is by no means a dummy or a mental midget.
In my mind, this entire silly venture is, and was always, planned as just that. A tax dodge. Simple business decision. His accountant team is laughing all the way to the bank.

Interesting take: Noted.

 

[dronerdave]

Was watching Russ on 51Drones on youtube last week. He was on about Amazon getting a licence for automated drone deliveries and how legislation will eventually force hobbyist flyers from the sky to keep the low altitudes free for amazons drones. I thought , yeah not my problem in misty ole Ireland. Boy was I wrong
Flippin supermarkets will now be delivering your loo roll or butter by drone shortly.
Big money is gonna outlaw us pilots to the back and beyonds shortly.

Sorry I just don't see anything from a supermarket being delivered to a home. Even small Amazon orders vary so much in size and weight I just don't see small drone delivery cost effective for most items. Power lines, phone lines, birds, temperature, winds, snow, rain, trees, poles, emergency aircraft... what else could go wrong. What might happen (and I have doubts about this) would possibly be very large multirotors able to lift large heavy pods containing items to be delivered from a main hub to outlying distribution centers. I'd think the flights would be similar to how the military operates their drones in the NAS now...flight paths made & requested, radar, and standard high tech flight equipment on the aircraft itself plus a complicated operations flight center to safely operate and fly the drone. I just can't see it done without some human monitoring during flights (for obvious reasons), especially when landing on a helipad in a congested part of a city. Seems like a huge cost compared to electric trucks and the limited human workforce they are trying to replace. For large heavy items, they don't use helicopters for this now and probably not because of how much the pilot makes in wages. The exception might be in very remote places of the world.
Maybe they'll improve on the jet pack and the delivery person will just fly in with a Yeti lunch pail holding my ice cold 6 pack of beer...

 

[RobW01]

Was watching Russ on 51Drones on youtube last week. He was on about Amazon getting a licence for automated drone deliveries and how legislation will eventually force hobbyist flyers from the sky to keep the low altitudes free for amazons drones. I thought , yeah not my problem in misty ole Ireland. Boy was I wrong

Airborne groceries? Tesco to trial drone deliveries

The supermarket chain is teaming up with a drone start-up to deliver groceries faster.

www.zdnet.com

Flippin supermarkets will now be delivering your loo roll or butter by drone shortly.
Big money is gonna outlaw us pilots to the back and beyonds shortly.

I don’t see how such deliveries could be financially viable.

 

[Vic Moss]

I like Russ, but he's full of nonsense sometimes. And this is one of them. Fear mongering and placating the paranoids.

Neither the hobby nor the commercial side of the drone world is going to be ending. Period.

 

[Repaid1]

The Drone system they have been testing is well known and been reported on.
And considering it can carry a payload of 5lbs (75% of Amazon orders weigh less)...what does this thing weigh? And yes folks here is the kicker: "As part of the inbuilt safety features the drones will be restricted to 400 feet so they won’t encounter airplanes or helicopters." That puts them right in "our" airspace. But lucky it has a "Bunch" of sensors:

The drone comes with visual, thermal and sonar cameras. The visual and thermal cameras work with computer vision algorithms to identify objects or people that are in the drone’s path. If the drone detects a person in the package drop-off zone it will automatically stop its descent. The computer vision software can spot airborne objects and even detect thin clothes lines. "(Better than SkyDio can do!) The below links clear up some questions in this thread. As they have hired a High end executive from Boeing to run the whole program, it looks to be months away from some areas. As they have been testing since Dec 7th, 2016.

Amazon Delivery Drone: Five Key Things We Know So Far

Automated MK27 delivery drones will be as safe as human control, claims Amazon - Urban Air Mobility News

by Michael Willoughby Amazon Prime Air’s autonomous drones will include a “fail-safe design architecture” equal to human control – and humans will not be able

www.urbanairmobilitynews.com

 

[Vic Moss]

That puts them right in "our" airspace.

Guess what, It's "their" airspace too. We don't have exclusivity. This is not the gloom and doom issue people seem to think it is. Russ is being irresponsible for fanning those flames.

 

[Repaid1]

Guess what, It's "their" airspace too. We don't have exclusivity. This is not the gloom and doom issue people seem to think it is. Russ is being irresponsible for fanning those flames.

I understand that as well, that was in rebuttal to the post saying the airspace above 400' but sub 500' would be allotted to them.

"They are also going to most likely have there own flight space : Im thinking 425 ft to avoid most birds and drones."