It's already been three years since Amazon first revealed its somewhat audacious plan to make deliveries by drone. But the company is quite serious about this, and today it is announcing that it complete the first Amazon Prime Air drone-powered delivery. The company recently launched a trial in Cambridge, England -- and on December 7th, Amazon completed its first drone-powered delivery. It took 13 minutes from order to delivery, with the drone departing a custom-built fulfillment center nearby.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/14/ama ... -delivery/
Well while I give Amazon 10/10 for trying I am less than delighted by the thought that the airspace around Stansted is going to become any more cluttered (as the piece below implies). I also imagine that today could have been chosen for the test ,as opposed to the 7th when it was made, because it was probably the only day this week that such a flight could have been attempted VFR, fog, low cloud and mist having dominated for much of the week and will probably continue to do so until next summer (an exaggeration I know but perhaps not far from the truth).
Do they really think they can fly these things through Class D airspace and the concept of exclusive Amazon corridors sucks big time?
Amazon's FAQ page answers a few other questions about its drone delivery system. For starters, drones are only allowed to fly during daylight hours when its sunny -- rain, snow or icy conditions will ground them. As for how Amazon's drones will work in airspaces with other vehicles, the company says it believes drones should operate in a separate airspace where only small unmanned vehicles can operate. Amazon says airspace access should be "determined by capability" -- the company envisions the low altitude space it is operating in should be reserved exclusively for drones similar to what it plans to deploy.
MB