Look up in the sky around Christiansburg, and you might see a drone delivery taking place. The service officially began last week.
By Marty Gordon
Drone delivery service has hit Christiansburg, and the world is watching.
The project is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program. For the duration of the trial, Wing drones will transport select FedEx, Walgreen and Sugar Magnolia packages to qualifying homes in Christiansburg, demonstrating the benefits of drone delivery for last-mile delivery service. Wing, an offshoot of Google’s parent company Alphabet, has received the first authorization from the FAA to conduct scheduled, commercial drone package delivery to residences.
“Innovation has been part of the FedEx DNA since day one, and we are always looking for new and better ways to deliver the world to our customers’ doorsteps,” said Don Colleran, President and CEO of FedEx Express. “For our customers in Christiansburg, this collaboration will test the latest innovation in the last mile of a residential package delivery. We hope that this latest addition to our delivery options will enhance the last-mile service for urgent same-day deliveries, customers in rural or semi-rural areas and other exceptional delivery needs.”
But throughout all of this process there are many moving pieces, and “commercial drone delivery” faces a lot of obstacles with one of the biggest questions being why was a small community in southwest Virginia chosen for the launch. The location has been even questioned by national media, but Wing officials say Christiansburg is the perfect spot.
That’s because of Virginia Tech. Wing has been working closely with VT test drone delivery since 2016. Wing spokesman Jacob Demmitt said over that time, the company found this tech-savvy community to be welcoming and state and local government officials to be supportive of responsible drone operations.
During those early days, Wing’s drones delivered over a thousand meals to Virginia Tech students and staff.
Wing’s Christiansburg trial represents America’s first and only drone delivery service available to the general public in the United States at this time.
“One of our primary goals is to gauge community views on drone delivery technology at the local, state and federal levels. The response we’ve received so far has been overwhelmingly positive,” said spokesman Demmitt.
The company advertises that only in Christiansburg can a tiny airplane bring stuff straight to a house. The local facility is largely built out of shipping containers and doesn’t look how most people would imagine. During a recent tour of the location near Grand Piano off Peppers Ferry Road, the complex resembled something out of a “small house” television show.
The containers are climate controlled and are fully furnished and stocked with amenities to help the staff be productive. In addition, there are three containers marked for each participating retailer. In most cases, the items ordered by local families are brought to the site, which is labeled as the “nest” because of its launch pads. The merchandise is placed in the containers in preparation for delivery.
Wing hopes to host school and other groups to demonstrate their service at the location. Already, the company has placed signage on site that describes and leads visitors through the whole process leading to launch.
The drones are custom-designed for this type of delivery and can fly up to 70 miles per hour. Typically, a drone will fly at speeds no more than 65 miles per hour. The Wing drone, which is made up of a lightweight foam, is designed to fly up to 12 miles round trip. According to company spokesman Demmitt, however, during this phase of the trial, the drones will fly only six miles round trip.
Once a customer submits an order via a mobile app or through Fed Ex Express, the package is attached to the launch hook. It will fly to the designated delivery location in a matter of minutes. Once at the customer’s home, the drone will slow down, hover, descend to a delivery height of 23 feet above the ground, lower the package by tether and automatically release the package.
The drone does not land, and customers will not touch the package until it is released. The drone will then climb back to cruise height and return to the nest.
Wing has said there is no concern about the safety of the drones flying over Christiansburg. The company points to its 80,000-plus test flights that have confirmed the safety of the process and the system.
Wing has also successfully completed more than 3,000 deliveries in Canberra, Australia. The company said, “In Australia’s ACT territory (pop. 419,200), it is estimated that by 2030 drone delivery could reduce traffic congestion by up to 35 million vehicle kilometres each year.”
During the recent tour at the Christiansburg nest, heavy rain showers forced the shutdown of launch operations. Demmitt said like other aircraft, the drones simply cannot not fly in bad weather conditions. But under several test flights in other locations around the world, the drones have flown in all types of weather.
The drones are designed to carry up to 3.3 pounds, but during this local trial, they will not carry anything over three pounds.
Delivery partners include Walgreens, Fed Ex Express and Sugar Magnolia bakery in Blacksburg. Christiansburg customers can order directly online from those three businesses.
The economic impact of drone delivery remains to be seen, but Wing has said that in a mature market, drones could increase sales in the metropolitan area by up to 27.4 percent per year for participating businesses.By year five, assuming a high adoption rate across the same area, drone delivery could average getting some 3,385 cars off the road, saving 389 million vehicle miles per year. Those numbers also say 44.6 hours would be saved per customer per year in avoided travel and waiting, along with 40.2 tons of carbon dioxide saved each year (equivalent to 1,849 trees).
The process to secure a delivery in Christiansburg is simple. Customers must first register through Wings’ Smartphone app at: wing.com/united-states/virginia. Customers order goods from one of the three businesses via the Wing mobile app. Those goods can include meals, beverages, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and other essential goods.
Wing software automatically calculates the route from the launch site to the customer, taking into account safety and regulatory restrictions. The flight plan is then uploaded to the drone.
Individuals who hope to use the service will have to provide a 6X6 spot for the drone to drop off the package.
The delivery area will be identified to determine two things: if it is in the Christiansburg drop zone and if the home is eligible for the service. During an early kickoff event, Wing pointed to three miles north from the drone nest off Peppers Ferry Road reaching the Belmont community and then west toward Christiansburg High School.
Demmitt said the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Integration Pilot Program is scheduled to continue until the fall of 2020. “We don’t have a set duration for the pilot; we’ll continually assess based on feedback from the community,” he concluded.
For more information on the project, check out www.wing.com.
