A new kind of neighborhood delivery service took flight over the weekend in Christiansburg. Several drones, with three foot, wingspans flew to people’s homes to drop off small packages.
It’s part of an FAA testing period for a company called, ‘Wing’ based in California. James Ryan Burgess is CEO. “This technology is actually the safest way to move packages in a community and it's environmentally friendly since it's electrically powered. As we see more and more congestion and densification around our country, we're excited that drone delivery can be one of the solutions to help improve quality of life in the future.”
For this phase of testing, Wing is partnering with FedEx Express, Walgreens, and Blacksburg’s Sugar Magnolia. Tom Rob and his wife own the sweet shop and he sees a new market for people who forgot to pick up get important items. He predicts there will be increasedi activity from the 'husband' sector. "The husband will say, ‘Oh no, I didn't forget your birthday. I planned this, I planned to have your birthday present delivered by drone to the front yard.”
On Friday, October, 18th, 2019, A four-foot drone delivered a 3-pound package to a family in Christiansburg, Virginia. Michael and Kelly Culver watched the small unmanned aircraft hover over their designated delivery space and gently lower the package to their front lawn. It contained the cold/wellness package from Walgreens, and it contained“Halls, Vitamin Water, the all-important baby wipes and a nice little thank you card. ‘hope you feel better.’”
The drones carry packages weighing 3 pounds or under for this phase of the trial and the goal is, delivery in under 10 minutes, from Wing's headquarters, known as the 'nest' in Christiansburg on Welcome Drive.
Similar packages arrived at other people’s houses as part of the drone delivery demonstration.. Wing says, if drone delivery is widely adopted, it will keep thousands of cars off the roads, cutting down on CO2, help people with sick kids avoid having to pile sneezing, sniflers into the car to go to the drug store, and provide disabled people with speedy deliveries.
Opponents are concerned privacy, safety and sound issues regarding drones. Spokesperson Alexa Dennett says the company has successfully reduced noise levels from an earlier iteration. Still there is surely a noticeable buzzing sound that changes pitch with accelleration as the tiny craft makes it's deliveries, but the company points out, it's a lower sound than most heavy trucks that handle most of today's deliveries.
Dennett says, Wing has and will continue to is seek feedback from the community. Here's a link to comment.
