Hobie Posted October 25, 2019 Posted October 25, 2019 Here is an article in the Wall Street Journal summarizing each of their delivery drones. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-drones-are-coming-11571995806 They have been given permission by the FAA and they fly about 100-400 feet. Right now they are very limited in range up to about ~5 miles from launch. But, in time I expect to see the sky full of these making deliveries. There is no air-to-air communication/detection for collision avoidance so FAA has limited only one operator per a certain area. The obvious concern is not that they are taking pilots jobs but encroaching into helicopter airspace creating more flying obstacles to avoid. What I am really hoping for is these companies are very well funded and they will have to pour a lot of money into developing technologies that can cross over into normal helo cockpits to increase safety. 1. First would be wire strike detection. 2. Next would be cheap on board ident that would communicate automatically to surrounding ships both drones and helos their own speed, altitude, course direction, maybe even flight plans. What is the helo industry doing to prepare for this onslaught of drones? Quote
Thedude Posted October 28, 2019 Posted October 28, 2019 Hopefully drone proofing MR bladesNot much you can do to stop damage when a blade spinning at 500+ mph hits a 10lb hard object. Quote
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