Amazon Wants To Use Drones For Next-Day Delivery Service

A Howitzer. I wonder if there is a way to hijack the RF and get delivered somewhere other than the intended delivery address. Hold it for ransom. LOL

 

Wait till the Amazon lawyers get here You do make a good point, the amount of planning, testing and installing of security and control measures needed would be huge! It makes one wonder whether they actually just released this concept prematurely on purpose; so that the public see it as "Amazon's great idea "?

 

Might be something neat. My luck if it was Domino's, it would be some pizza that I didn't like. Never mind. I never met a pizza that I didn't like. Just love some more than others.

 

How about MrBill's Florida Pizza Diet. Sign me up.

 

Reckon Rover would like a slice too?

 

In a heart beat. There is no 5 second rule at my house anymore. It never even gets flat on the floor and it is gone. Dog loves him some Munchies brand Jalapeno Cheddar crackers. Will eat 2 or 3 and then go get a big drink of water. Can't put a sweet tea glass down where he can get to it or he will drink it all or at least till his tongue can't reach it any more.

 

They aren't radio controlled - they're independently stabilised, follow a computerised flight plan and are controlled by GPS. I suspect that there will be a lot of shotguns going off if Amazon is dumb enough to pursue this.

In truth, there is a lot of potential for these things running into commercial airplanes on final approaches to airports. I can't believe Amazon is serious - I think it's a publicity stunt.

Even the use of military drones around airports is downright dangerous, particularly around small VFR-only airports. Nobody running the drone can "see and avoid ". I sure hope Amazon has megabucks-worth of insurance for when they down a family Cessna on finals!

 

I suspected as much. GPS isn't foolproof. I'm sure someone could be getting a misdelivered package one day.

 

Single-blade propellers would be very difficult to balance. I think the Lancasters had 3-bladed ones (maybe 4-blades on advanced models), driven by the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engines.

 

But, do they have to file that flight plan?

 

They probably wouldn't fly high enough to interfere with normal aircraft traffic.

 

I'm getting in over my head, here, but I presume anything flying over 2000 feet has to have FAA approval? I don't think the FAA will allow transmission towers to be built over that height, so I guess these drones would be permitted to fly below that altitude, and flying at say, 1000 feet, would make it difficult for ground fire to knock the drones down.

 

Normal airline traffic has to land from time to time, so they go below 1000 feet! A typical ILS approach starts at about 2200 feet, 6 miles from touchdown. It's conflicts with drones close to airports that worry me.

 

Yeah, I'm sure there will be *no* drone deliveries near airports, unless they can fly nap of the earth!