AMAZON DRONES - DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!
Soon to be seen near you alongside flying pigs and skateboards!
It is quite a source of frustration for Skyvantage (who are qualified commercial drone operators) when our inbox pings with messages from people saying “I see Amazon are about to start delivery packages with drones”! In short NO THEY AREN’T!
Although the technology does now exist for this to happen (well with very lightweight packages anyway), the commercial reality of this happening is years away. There is also a small thing called AIR LAW which will through up many valid safety reasons to prevent this from getting off the ground too.
The commercial UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) industry is still very new. When the general public see the likes of the BBC and many other quality news sources, peddling this rubbish they believe it is true. Many sensible folk would be rightly extremely worried if they felt our skies were about to become populated with multi-rotor craft dropping off packages. There are so many safety and commercial factors, not to mention the weather that would prevent this!
Skyvantage recently filmed for British Land Plc. in Central London flying at Broadgate, Padding Central and Regent’s Place. The work had to be coordinated with special permissions with the CAA and NATS (National Air Traffic) and the permissions process took around 3 weeks. The idea that Amazon will have a fleet of drone flying around urban location is simply laughable.
The REAL REASON Amazon announced this was as a PR stunt on the webs busiest day of the year for online shopping as well. So for all of those who are worried about drones, hitting power lines, dropping on the heads of their children playing in the garden, not to mention the hundred or so other reasons this is a bad idea in the real world – DON’T WORRY! And that goes for Pizzas or anything else you have recently heard reported on the news about drone delivery.
