Wing owned by Alphabet delivers by drone in Christiansburg Virginia

(Oct. 18)The drone delivery company Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet (formerly Google) is now delivering not only health care products but also snacks to residents of Christiansburg Virgina.

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The company received recent approval for deliveries from the federal government and has teamed up with major companies such as FedEx and Walgreens. Wing claims it is the first commercial drone delivery service in the US.

Earlier this year, Wing became one of the first operators to be certified as a commercial air carrier by the Federal Aviation Administration that allows it to delivers goods to persons miles away and much beyond the drone operator's line of sight.

A recent article notes: " With an expanded Air Carrier Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Wing today became the first company to operate a commercial air delivery service via drone directly to homes in the United States. Wing’s FAA permissions are the first to allow multiple pilots to oversee multiple unmanned aircraft making commercial deliveries simultaneously to the general public, paving the way for the most advanced drone delivery service in the nation."

Wing

Wikipedia describes Wing: "Wing is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. that develops technology of drone-based delivery of freight. The company completed their first real-world deliveries in 2014.[1] The company has offices in Australia, the United States and Finland[citation needed]. In July 2018, Project Wing changed from Google X to become an independent Alphabet company.[2] As of January 2019, Wing began delivering take-out food and beverages out of its test facility in Bonython, Australia as part of a pilot program.[3] In April 2019 Wing became the first drone delivery company to receive a Air operator's certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow it to operate as an airline in the USA.[4]"

How the system works. The appended promotional video gives a good picture of exactly how the system works.

The company says it hopes to replace deliveries that are now made by car or truck in order to reduce traffic on the city's roads. It also is a speedy delivery mode for anyone who has limited mobility options. Wing promises that its deliveries will take place within minutes of an order being place as long the customer lives in Christiansburg's "designated delivery zones". There are no extra fees for the drone deliveries.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Wing owned by Alphabet (Google) to start drone deliveries in Finland

Wing, owned by Alphabet (Google) will start a drone delivery service in Helsinki the Finnish capital next month. Delivery will be to people in the Vuosaari district the most populous area of the city from the gourmet Herkku Food Market and Cafe Monami,

Limitations on delivery

Wing said in its initial announcement of the trials that the delivery flights would involve a maximum of 10 km in distance with packages weighing 1.5 kg or less. Deliveries are expected to take about ten minutes.

Wing has been carrying out test flights in Teisko just north of Helsinki to make sure the drones are up to flying in harsh weather conditions. Wing also has been holding events in Vuosaari to prepare residents for the sight and sound of drones flying in their neighborhood.

In Australia there have been complaints of noisy drones

In the Bonython area of Canberra some residents are up in arms over the noise of delivery drones. Bonython resident Irena claimed the daily life of her family was severely impacted, and admitted she took her children away from the house for hours each weekend just to escape the sound of drones. Irena said: "With the windows closed, even with double glazing, you can hear the drones. We're worried about the noise issue, the issue about privacy, we're worried about the wildlife that seems to have disappeared from the area — there aren't as many birds as before. From a quarter past seven in the morning we'd hear our first drone flyover and you won't be able to sleep for the rest of the day because the drones are flying from 7am to 4pm."

The group Bonython Against Drones claims that more than 500 people have signed petition that calls on the drones to be banned. The petition and negative reports have not been sufficient to prevent the Australian aviation authority form granting Wing regulatory approval to start making public deliveries.

Wing also has approval from US authorities to begin making deliveries in Virginia in the coming months.

Amazon drone delivery in the doldrums

Amazon's Prime drone delivery service has been quiet. Prime Air did drone deliveries in the UK back in 2016 to much fanfare and another in the US in 2017 but not much seems to have happened recently. However, last year an Amazon spokesperson said that the company remained committed to making drone deliveries a reality.

There have already been commercial medical deliveries in North Carolina.