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With that trial successfully completed, “we want to start carrying real cargo, for an unnamed not-for-profit healthcare facility,” he said. In what may have been a reference to New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital on William Street, Mr. Wainer added, “cargo will be taken from the Downtown Skyport by van, a short distance north. Use your imagination.”
He added that this phase of the trial, which will begin by early April and last up to one year, will entail actual cargo being brought to the Brooklyn waterfront, loaded onto Speedbird DLV 2 drones – which are approximately five feet in diameter, weigh 55 pounds, and can carry up to 13 pounds of freight – then flown across the East River to Lower Manhattan. “We expect one or two flights per hour,” he said.
Speedbird says the DLV-2 is geared toward the air transportation of items such as “beverage packs, biological materials, and multiple e-commerce orders. This aircraft will connect neighborhoods, warehouses, hospitals, and laboratories.”
“We won’t be flying over people or boats, just over water,” Mr. Wainer explained. “A drone that approaches a boat will hover in place. Helicopter traffic will always get priority. There will be line of sight from both the Brooklyn and Manhattan sides at all times, and the pilot will be in the Downtown Skyport.”
“This is a break-even proposition,” he added. “The customer spends about the same but gets their cargo faster by flying that ‘middle mile.’ Each flight will save several gallons of gasoline, compared to making the entire trip by cargo van, and also cut down travel time by several hours. In terms of the budget, the cost will be similar to driving the whole trip.”
CB1 member David Sheldon asked at what altitude the drones will be flying. Mr. Wainer said, “we are cleared for up to 300 feet, but typically they will go no higher than 100 feet.”
Jeff Galloway, also a member of CB1, observed, “covering that middle mile in a way that gets cars and people off the roads will be a public benefit, if it works.” Mr. Wainer agreed and mentioned “the broader Blue Highways initiative,” a reference to a joint project by the City’s Department of Transportation and its Economic Development Corporation that aims to activate a robust network of navigable local waterways for the sustainable movement of goods.
CB1 chair Tammy Meltzer suggested that the Port Authority find a way to track complaints related to the program, referring to years of resident concerns about noise from helicopters at the Downtown Skyport. Mr. Wainer agreed to pursue this, but predicted that the Speedbird DLV 2 will generate noise “about the same as that from an electric toothbrush.”
In a separate (but related) development, the Federal Aviation Administration on March 9 approved a testing program that will bring high-speed, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to the Downtown Skyport, aiming to create an urban air taxi service that will shuttle passengers between Lower Manhattan and regional airports. That trial program may begin as soon as this summer and will continue for three years.
Matthew Fenton
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