Wingcopter Makes Progress Towards Drone-Based Deliveries
Wingcopter — maker of the Wingcopter 198 cargo-carrying drone with a payload rated at 4.7 kg (10.4 pounds), a range of 94 km (58 miles), and a speed of 90 kph (56 mph) — made significant progress towards commercialization in 2024. “We have successfully completed a six-months grocery delivery project in Germany, the first of its kind, in which we delivered everyday goods to two villages in the rural Odenwald region,” said Thomas Dreiling, a company spokesman. “In this project, we have shown that we can fly BVLOS without any problems in open airspace that we shared with general aviation as well as emergency helicopters. Communication with all airspace participants worked without any incident.”
It’s worth noting that in June 2024, Wingcopter’s Japanese partner Itochu conducted the first-ever BVLOS drone flight across Uchiura Bay at Hokkaido. “This round-trip flight with our Wingcopter 198 covered a total distance of 96 km (60 miles) above the open sea between Muroran City and Mori Town, delivering medical equipment, including catheters for the treatment of brain strokes, and returning with Mori Town’s local specialty: vacuum-packed squid rice,” Dreiling said. “The flight reduced the transportation time from over two hours by car to around 28 minutes with the Wingcopter drone. Currently, we are preparing a project in Kenya together with Siemens Healthineers to speed up the picking up and the delivery of laboratory samples from remote health facilities to central laboratories. First test flights have already taken place.
“In thousands of flight hours, we have conducted extended performance and endurance flight tests at our testing facilities in Germany, Spain, and Malawi throughout the year,” he added. “One of the most remarkable tests has proven the Wingcopter’s capability to fly in heavy wind of up to 18 meters/second (40 mph). We think our Wingcopter drones can complement, and in certain scenarios replace, helicopters and road-based transport. This involves scenarios like the delivery of urgently needed medical supplies such as blood, deliveries to oil rigs or offshore wind parks, and long-range inspections.”
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