DRONE DELIVERY CANADA PHOTO
A CARGO DRONE IS INBOUND continued
The Sparrow battery-powered drone operates on preprogrammed routes to and from drone spots such as this fenced-in area. It can carry up to 9-lb. payloads at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. The company’s logistics system tracks all packages. A Sparrow is now operating on a short route from Edmonton International Airport (CYEG).
with us instead of only seeing us as a competitor,” Zahra says. “So if you’re sending a helicopter and a pilot to do a delivery where you could have sent a drone, that’s a cost savings that could have been passed on to a mining, oil, or gas customer. If helicopter company A isn’t going to work with us, I guarantee you that helicopter company B will.”
The Condor DDC bought a shell airframe and motor for the Condor, while all of the electronics and software were developed in-house. To resolve concerns about the availability of aviation fuel in remote locations, the Condor uses automotive gasoline, and the choice of a piston engine means the powerplant is simple, reliable, and inexpensive to maintain. Te choice of a gasoline-powered engine
for the Condor was a simple decision. “When we started working on the Condor a few years ago, there really wasn’t any battery or hydrogen fuel cell technology that was going to give us the range and payload capacity we needed,” says Zahra.
Te Condor landing zone will be fenced to keep people and wild animals out of the area,
but the cargo drone may land following a glide path rather than a direct vertical descent. And, just as with the Sparrow and Robin drones, it will use the FLYTE system to monitor loading and unloading. Condor flight testing has included checkout
of the aircraft’s triple-redundant autopilot system. Its communications system, also triple redundant, uses satellite, cellular, and radio systems. DDC engineers have also tested the Condor’s general flight stability and perfor- mance, autonomy and autonomous waypoint navigation, fuel consumption in multiple flight patterns, velocity vectors, and altitude profiles. Tere has also been extended endurance testing for various environments. Tree Condor drones are flying, and one is
being prepared for use in initial commercial service. Te Condor’s first contract will be for deliveries to several communities on the North Shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in Quebec, about 1,000 miles northwest of Montreal. A 10-year agreement with Drones Express of Quebec will enable BVLOS deliveries of parcels and mail to these communities. Te drones will also serve the nearby, 3,000-square-mile Anticosti Island, where about 200 people live.
DECEMBER 2021 ROTOR 39
(425) 526-7566
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
