Most Viewed UAS/UAV Stories 2023

Reality Check: Former Amazon executive says company should Shut Down its Drone Programme

Source: eVTOL Insights

Author: Chris Stonor

Amazon’s dream of becoming the leading drone delivery company in the world continues to sink in to oblivion.

Brittain Ladd, a Supply Chain Consultant and Former Amazon Executive, wrote on his personal blog recently: “There comes a point in time when individuals and companies must face the facts and accept reality. Amazon should shut down its drone program.”

His frustration grows after the company has lost two executives key to its drone operations. Jim Mullin, Prime Air’s Chief Pilot, left last month, whilst Robert Dreer, who reported to Mullin and was responsible for all of Prime Air’s test operations, departed last week for a role at eVTOL Aircraft startup, Opener. Ladd points out: “Amazon has been touting since 2013 that they would become the leader in delivering packages that weighed five pounds or less via drones. Amazon isn’t close to achieving their goal.”

Despite receiving millions in funding, Amazon Prime Air is only testing drones in two small markets, and the program has been plagued by drone crashes and poor performance.

Ladd continues: “I have been a critic of Amazon’s drone program from the beginning because I don’t believe drones will benefit then company except in a few limited use cases. I certainly understand why people at Amazon got excited about using drones. Yes, they’re cool and fun to fly. They’re also a nightmare of regulations.” Adding, “I remain convinced that Amazon should immediately shut down their drone program.”

He concludes, “Some may argue that Amazon should keep the program and increase the funding. I disagree. Drones are a distraction to Amazon and little progress has been made. Andy Jassy (Amazon CEO and President) needs to make it clear that enough is enough and that there are more important priorities for Prime Air and Amazon.”

Volatus Aerospace completes acquisition of Empire Drone

Source: Volatus Aerospace Press Release

Volatus Aerospace Corp. acquired Empire Drone Company LLC. The acquisition provides Volatus with expanded distribution for drone technologies in the American Market and a corresponding increase in gross margin performance for all US sales.

“The addition of this company adds approximately $2.3M in trailing proforma revenue with an estimated 7% proforma EBITDA,” said Abhinav Singhvi, Chief Financial Officer for Volatus Aerospace. “The ability to support our US sales with domestic inventory and support is also expected to improve general gross margin, inventory turnover, and make our logistics management more efficient.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Volatus will purchase 100% of the company for a cash consideration USD$300,000 on Closing; (ii) issuance of 721,538 common shares at a deemed price of CDN$0.65 per common share on closing; and (iii) subject to certain revenue milestones 12 months after closing, issue up to an additional 721,538 common shares at a deemed floor price of CDN$0.65 per common share or 30 days VWAP on first anniversary from closing, whichever is higher.

Volatus Aerospace distributes products and services in Canada under the Volatus Aerospace, OmniView Tech, MVT Geo-solutions, Canadian Air National, and Synergy Aviation brands; in the USA under the Volatus Aerospace USA, ConnexiCore, and Empire Drone Brands; in South America under the Volatus Aerospace LATAM brands; and in European Markets under the Volatus Aerospace UK, and iRed Remote Sensing brands.

(BVLOS)

Source: Revolution.Aero

Author: Yves Le Marquand

The FAA has issued its first ever approval for commercial beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations, in what has been described as a “crucial step” for the large drone sector.

The approval comes off the back of requests to the FAA by four companies — Phoenix Air Unmanned, uAvionix, UPS Flight Forward and Zipline — to conduct BVLOS drone operations at 400ft or below. After a request for public comment closed in June, the FAA has now approved these firms to begin operating.

“This first ever issued civil BVLOS approval for a helicopter of that size in the US is going to unlock that market for commercial operations, particularly in the domain of long-range critical infrastructure inspections,” Ulrich Amberg, CEO, SwissDrones (the OEM supplying Phoenix Air Unmanned with its SDO 50 V2 aircraft) told Revolution.Aero. The firm already has some FAA airworthiness approvals including for flight tests and demonstrations, its aircraft also has an ’N’ tail number.

“Whilst this does mean we are set for growth in the large drone sector, especially in critical infrastructure inspection, it is not that simple,” explained Amberg. “It is not the same as manned aviation, where you have either type certification, then you’re rubber-stamped to do whatever you want with that aircraft, or no flight approval at all.” With large drones it is a staggered approach, EASA framework considers operational risks and assesses to work this out. That assessment delivers an outcome which tells you at which risk level you are approvable through a combination of your capability as an operator combined with the technical features of the aircraft.

“This is a clever approach because it allows the whole industry to go about this in a step-bystep approach. Rather than saying either you get type certified or you don’t fly at all, which would basically kill the whole industry because getting a type certificate as per manned aviation standards is something that will cost you $100$500bn. Not many OEMs would ever get that money back from aircraft sales.”

The US approach is slightly different and the FAA has received some criticism for this, said Amberg. “They are still making their minds up on how they want to regulate it in full. It is called the Part 108 framework and will extend the Part 107 for small drones. But it is not there yet.” So today operators have to file exemption petitions to be exempt from what is basically a ban. This means the ruling issued by the FAA for Phoenix Air Unmanned is an exemption on the FAA’s Part 91 framework. “Not unfortunately part of a systematic framework as seen in Europe,” he added.

With approvals to operate commercially in over 40 countries, SwissDrones is no stranger to regulatory processes. As well as approvals to flyer customers in Canada, Indonesia and some other locations in Asia, SwissDrones is also near to attaining approval in Australia, according to Amberg.

“For the last four or so years — aside from the R&D, early market testing and product development — we have been focusing on the regulatory developments. We have also reverse engineered against those requirements as well to inform the product development process of our helicopters. Also, the operating procedures and all other documentation needs to come along with that. This has placed us pretty much at the front-end of the crowd. It is not just coming, we have approvals to fly in around 40 countries in the world today,” he said.

There are two main regulatory bodies in aviation globally. The FAA and EASA — which covers 32 countries in Europe. Around two years ago, Europe implemented an entire drone regulation framework that has been ratified by all EASAmember countries.

There are multiple ways to get approvals. In a nutshell, you can apply for individual flight approvals for every flight mission, but that requires the need to provide all documentation for each and every mission. “This is not a viable option for a commercial business, because that is going to kill you. But that is what is out there now and it is creating quite a lot of work for regulatory authorities who are receiving thousands of these applications,” said Amberg.

The other pathway, known as a light unmanned operator’s certificate, requires applying for delegated authority to approve your own flights. “This then means you are acting on behalf of civil aviation authorities and they delegate the right for you to do so as an operator. This is the most far-reaching and difficult approval to obtain and is very similar to an AOC [air operator certificate] found in manned aviation,” said Amberg.

David Spurlock, managing director, Diamond Stream Partners is an investor in SwissDrones and advocate for the commercial large drone sector. He told Revolution.Aero: “We are on a walk into the future of which the end is unclear. There remain many questions around aspects like safety and public interest… do we end up with the Jetsons and thousands of drones flying overhead. I don’t think we will. But on the other side of that scale there is a definite public interest and this is where companies like SwissDrones can help to achieve that.”

Focusing on search and rescue, firefighting and infrastructure inspection use cases feeds directly into the public interest case, explained Spurlock. Pointing to the growth in size and construction tempo of major infrastructure seen over the past century, there is a need for suitable means to be able to inspect this infrastructure. “That is not possible or inefficient to do from the ground. It is also very expensive to do so with traditional manned aviation. Therefore making it much more effective to do with a drone.

“There is so much potential to improve society by choosing the right first places to allow unmanned flight and infrastructure inspection seems like the perfect fit for solving real-world problems that exist today. This approval is a very important moment for the sector,” added Spurlock.

Elroy Air secures more than $2B in total aircraft demand and moves to new flight test facility

Source: Elroy Air Press Release

Elroy Air, the company developing the first endto-end autonomous VTOL aerial cargo system, has signed an agreement with LCI, a leading aviation company and a subsidiary of Libra Group, for commitments to purchase up to 40 of the company’s Chaparral VTOL aircraft, with down payments on a number of the vehicles.

The company has now secured more than $2 billion in aircraft purchase demand in the commercial, defense and humanitarian sectors.

“We’re experiencing an enthusiastic response to the Chaparral and its capabilities to serve as a key part of a safe, efficient, and capable fleet of aircraft to respond in emergency situations, keep pilots out of harm’s way, and enable rapid logistics in a new and sustainable way,” said David Merrill, CEO and co-founder of Elroy Air. “Through our agreement with LCI, the Chaparral will be available for financing — enabling much broader access to the aircraft. We are proud that the Chaparral will now be part of LCI’s aviation fleet and look forward to providing aerial cargo transport globally.”

The Chaparral is the first end-to-end autonomous VTOL cargo delivery system. It is designed for aerial transport of up 500 pounds (225 kilograms) of goods over a 300 nautical mile range, enabled initially by a turbine-based hybrid-electric powertrain with distributed electric propulsion, and specially designed aerodynamic modular cargo pods.

“Applications for the Chaparral include aerial cargo transport for disaster relief, firefighting and humanitarian operations without risk to pilots or the need for airport infrastructure,” said Kofi Asante, vice president of business development and strategy. “What’s particularly exciting about our agreement with LCI is that it unlocks financing for the Chaparral for humanitarian use and enables us to share the Chaparral’s capabilities worldwide.”

Jaspal Jandu, CEO of LCI, says: “This commitment for the pioneering Chaparral system will enable us to efficiently support mission critical, remote logistical work and socially responsible humanitarian work around the world. It will do so in complement with the wide-ranging capabilities of our existing aviation fleet.

“We have been impressed with Elroy Air’s vision and approach and look forward to working closely with the team on a wide range of market opportunities. This forms part of our wider advanced air mobility strategy and will strengthen LCI’s position as a leading provider of leasing, financing and investing solutions for this new and exciting market.”

Elroy Air has moved its flight testing facility to Byron Airport in Byron, California. The company is using the new facility to support full-scale ground and flight testing. The company will initially be conducting tie-down testing to validate the software and hardware of its Chaparral C1 vehicles to validate safety of flight through a series of ground tests.

Elroy Air has moved its ground control station (GCS) to the airport, a custom-built mobile enclosure with engineering stations, weather monitoring, viewport windows, a dedicated network infrastructure, a datalink control and monitoring radio system and a rooftop observation deck. The GCS contains its own uninterruptible power supply (UPS), aircraft monitoring computers, and a climate control system. The GCS will be used to support both ground and flight tests.

In partnership with Urban Air Mobility — a joint-venture between MS Commercial, Inc. and Nearon Enterprises — Elroy Air has leased and prepared a new hangar at Byron airport for its ground and flight test campaigns, to ensure smooth and efficient progress to first flight and beyond.

The hangar is equipped with a large aircraft storage and work area, high-speed internet, desks for engineers in a furnished mezzanine, video conferencing capabilities, and a kitchenette. The Byron hangar houses the first production vehicle, C1-1, and thanks to the Chaparral’s wing stowing mechanism, multiple C1 systems can be housed and maintained within the hangar.

Aircraft / drone collision researchers propose runway exclusion extension

Source: Revolution.Aero

Author: Yves Le Marquand

New research to count and analyse close calls between aircraft and drones has recommended extending the exclusion zone around “high-risk” runways to 3.5 miles.

The current exclusion zone is around one mile. Researchers said that most close calls happen within 1.5 miles of a runway approach or departure zone. Ryan Wallace, associate professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said: “That modification would provide enhanced protection for piloted aircraft operating at less than 500 feet above ground level during approach or departure. Typically, small uncrewed aircraft don’t fly above 400 feet.”

Up to this point, information about narrow escapes between drones and aircraft has been based on subjective reports from pilots who are trying to identify and evade drones at the same time. The FAA received 2,596 pilot reports in 2021, which represents over a 100% increase on the 1,210 reports during the first full year of tracking in 2015.

Now in a study published by the Society of Automotive Engineers in its International Journal of Aerospace there is a new way to track and understand incidents. Researchers from EmbryRiddle and Unmanned Robotic Systems Analysis (URSA) looked at more than 1.8m piloted aircraft operations and nearly 460,000 flights by sUAS around Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Between August 2018 and July 2021, researchers identified 24 near-midair collisions in which drones came within 500 feet of piloted aircraft.

To develop a new method of counting and analysing close encounters between aircraft and drones, without solely depending on pilot sightings, researchers analysed sUAS and aircraft telemetry data collected using an UAS detection device connected to an antenna on top of Dallas Fort Worth’s Terminal C concourse. The device captured telemetry, altitude, launch location, and other details, for each sUAS within a 30-mile radius.

That information was then combined with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), as well as Mode S messages transmitted by aircraft and tracked by the OpenSky Network. To visualise the results, all information was fed into URSA’s proprietary data analytics software, Airspace Awareness Platform.

Wallace added: “We hope that our findings will help improve aviation safety by reducing the risk of collisions between unmanned aircraft systems and piloted aircraft operating in the National Airspace System.”

Across all of the near-midair collisions, the average lateral distance between the drone and the airplane was about 215 feet. Commercial air carriers were involved in 11 incidents, while seven incidents involved helicopters and six involved general aviation aircraft. All of the helicopter encounters happened within 1.25 miles of a heliport. Similarly, in 10 of the 11 air carrier encounters, the aircraft was within 1.5 miles of approach or departure and lower than 500 feet above the ground.

Scott Winter, associate professor of graduate studies, associate dean for research and a coauthor of the research article, said: “Operations within the vicinity of an airport are critical flight phases for pilots with high workload levels. It is within these areas where aircraft have added susceptibly of a collision with sUAS. The findings from this study provide objective data for operators, government agencies, and airlines to understand sUAS operations better and prevent possible conflicts.”