Mesa Air Group partners with Flirtey

Regional air carrier Mesa Airlines’ holding company Mesa Air Group Inc. is ordering four delivery drones from aerospace technology company Flirtey, with an option to order an additional 500 aircraft. The agreement makes Mesa the first scheduled airline to launch drone delivery in the U.S.

The immediate goal of the partnership is to conduct commercial drone deliveries in the last-mile food and beverage market in the U.S., with plans to expand drone delivery in the U.S. and New Zealand.

Mesa will use the Flirtey Eagle, an electric powered drone with software for autonomous flight operations. Flirtey recently expanded production of its U.S.-made delivery drones to meet growing demand.

The partnership will prioritize operations excellence and data collection, using Mesa’s experience as a regional air carrier and Flirtey’s technical experience having conducted more than 6,000 drone deliveries in the U.S.

In 2015, Flirtey conducted the first FAA-approved drone delivery. Since then, Flirtey was the first company to perform an autonomous drone delivery to a home, first to perform a commercial drone delivery, and partnered on emergency medical services drone deliveries.

Recently, the Bell Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) demonstrated its ability to airdrop supplies to military personnel in austere locations.

The APT unmanned aerial system (UAS) can carry two standard tactical packs, each holding up to 60 lb with a maximum payload of 100 lb. The bags can be dropped at one location or at two separate locations.

APT offers faster and more efficient resupply since the UAS can drop the goods quickly near the location so personnel can retrieve supplies without waiting for the aircraft to land and takeoff. The aerial supply-drop conserves battery power by minimizing hover time, extending the vehicle’s mission range and time and increasing aircraft survivability while keeping ground forces concealed by minimizing time at the drop zone.

To date, the APT flight test program has completed more than 420 flights at Yuma, Arizona; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Fort Benning, Georgia; and other test sites and is expected to reach additional milestones by early 2022. Follow-up development will include precision aerial supply-drops while flying at 80mph cruise speed.

Plug Power, HevenDrones partner

Israeli heavy-lift unmanned aerial system (UAS) manufacturer HevenDrones is allying with Plug Power, a provider of hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility.

HevenDrones designs its own proprietary operating systems and is the exclusive company selected by the Israeli Ministry of Defense to develop a customized fleet of hydrogen-fueled drones.

Plug Power and HevenDrones plan to commercialize hydrogen fuel cell-powered heavy-lift drones, support equipment, and infrastructure to extend drone flight times and range.

The carbon-free hydrogen system will incorporate a lightweight Plug Power ProGen-based hydrogen fuel cell stack designed for drone applications.

HevenDrones’ stabilizing technology allows a UAS to lift and move heavy and unbalanced and kinetic loads and has applications across multiple industries and markets.

Photo credit: Flirtey, Bell Flight,
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UAS power, signal connector

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