There is a proposed DA for drones delivering packages to the Scilly Isles
Statement_of_Need_with_Proposed_TDA_Chart_pdf
DAP1916_SoN_Redacted_pdf
That’s quite a distance to fly, but at least non-delivery won’t require a tracing operation since it’s all over water 
This is one of the drones
Peter wrote:
This is one of the drones
Nice CGI
Yes it was a joke; I wondered how many would spot it
Who thinks this is viable for goods transport? Drones (quadcopter type) are incredibly inefficient for lifting weights.
I often think they would be viable for medical samples which are more time-sensitive than most other goods, though I agree the quadcopter type wouldn’t be ideal.
Remote hospitals often have to keep a lab open overnight even though the number of samples they process is small. If you could zip them along to a bigger hospital in a straight line with a reasonable travel time (e.g. 30 minutes) then the savings could be huge. You might still need to have someone on call in case of bad weather, but IMC wouldn’t be a problem and neither would most winds.
Loss would be an issue. You wouldn’t want kids finding bottles of blood washed up on the beach.
The drone, or any “detachable” goods carried, would have to be weighed down so it doesn’t float. The drone itself will not float.
If a relatively small object needs to be somewhere very quickly then the tried and tested solution is the motorcycle courier. UK hospitals already use them.
Graham wrote:
If a relatively small object needs to be somewhere very quickly then the tried and tested solution is the motorcycle courier.
Fully agree! Over land in comparatively populated areas (e.g. Europe) there are only very few real applications for drone delivery.
I’d place a bet that the first (and perhaps only) broad commercial application of such drones will be flights to and from offshore oil rigs.
One of our former club members who used to work for Space-X moved to the Bay Area and now works for a drone company which intends to develop drones for delivery flights in sparsely populated areas and parts of the world that lack infrastructure. There are several such start-ups currently working in this field.
I use some drones as part of my work and one big obstacle I can see to drone delivery is the weather. None of the commercially available small drones work well in windy conditions and they also run out of battery power very quickly if they have to operate in wind. Any real delivery drone will have to be much bigger than what we’re seeing today in the civilian market.
That said, drones are here to stay and the next steps (already taken by the FAA) will be the integration of them into the NAS.
If a relatively small object needs to be somewhere very quickly then the tried and tested solution is the motorcycle courier. UK hospitals already use them.
That’s true for blood and spinal fluid samples, but it would be dangerous and expensive to use them for every little thing.
As an example, our hospital is 43 miles from the next one, which in a rural area typically takes an hour and a half by road and not hugely less by motorbike – if you do this on a regular basis and want to live. I would guesstimate that we probably send the labs 1-2 dozen samples overnight, each sample weighing an ounce at most. Shutting down the lab and sending them by motorbike would employ several motorcyclists full time but if you could send them by drone at 120mph then the delays in getting results back would be acceptable. You’d still need someone to deal with blood products locally, probably.
When I was into flying model helicopters I used to fly in weather that was well beyond what I would fly an SEP in, these days. Although they were small, the wing loading was very high and the collective and cyclic pitch made them very responsive. Fixed pitch quadcopters are much less responsive as it takes time for the rotors to speed up or slow down. I don’t think heavy winds would be a big problem, but snow and icing conditions may.
I think where this would really prove its worth would be in rural settings such as the Highlands, and some of the medium sized islands around the coast. The problems to me seem primarily to be those of safety, reliability and regulation. Not trivial, but I suspect likely to be solved sooner or later.
The Mail delivery is trying a drone on Mull for “van on public road” to isolated house.
Not parcel delivery I assume, but interesting drone notam. Most of this is night flying. Sunrise 08.56, sunset 15.40 20 December. 300 is quite a swarm.
“Q) EGPX/QWULW/IV/BO/W/000/010/5657N00500W001
B) FROM: 20/12/15 15:25C) TO: 20/12/22 23:00
E) UAS SWARM OPR WI 0.5NM RADIUS 565713N 0050014W (LOCK ARKAIG, HIGHLANDS). SWARM MADE UP OF 300 UAS OPR UP TO 400 FT AGL. FOR INFO
07432 302688. 2020-11-0254/ AS2
LOWER: SFC
UPPER: 1000FT AMSL
SCHEDULE: 0600-1000 1430-2300”
