Pilotless cargo ops
 

Former Fedex exec just joined sabrewing as they push for autonomous cargo ops.

https://www.suasnews.com/2019/10/sab...eid=6cfaba5001

The fears of those that come after us. the amount of R&D and testing that will go into this will take years to complete

Their prototype for a “large cargo drone” will have a payload capacity of 1200lbs in a VTOL configuration or 6000lbs in a traditional plane configuration and a range of 1000 miles. So this would be the Cessna Caravan replacement essentially.

I'm looking at that design and I'm thinking how will that get certified?

If you lose one motor in the VTOL phases of flight it crashes. This is by design not safe.

If it crashes in the middle of an open field (airport) and no pilots are on board it’s just a cost of doing business.

I’m not saying it’s smart or advocating for the idea, but for certification who cares.

Yes but when it falls on someone and kills them? I don't think there will be much demand to deliver to the middle of unpopulated areas.

I want to see that!

I agree. In VTOL mode, and the places it would land I don’t see it being an economical solution. In a ‘standard’ configuration it might be economical, but then you have to deal with the people under the flight path.

While small single package drones carrying 15 lbs and flying a couple miles could change the last mile delivery system and bigger drones may change the regional spokes (ie our current caravans from MEM-LIT) and local trucks from airport to distribution center. Maybe that doesn’t even work since a truck can certainly haul a load more economically than 15 drone flights.


I just don’t see a threat to larger aircraft into airports with large population density at the perimeter. However, I’ve never really been accused of being a creative visionary so we’ll just have to wait and see.

I think the biggest threat to these UAS are hacking/hijacking and jamming which present several problems for the companies trying to put these into service. How can they ensure these drones can’t be taken control of remotely and used as weapons? They can’t.

Leave it to human beings to create machines that would replace us in the work place. People are dumb.