This week in drone news: Zipline has gotten their PArt 135 certificate from the FAA, The FAA is soliciting public comments about Zipline's proposed drone deliveries, Wingcopter has raised 42 million to expand deliveries, Amazon's announcement a surprise for the small town where their deliveries will begin, and finally, we've released our Photography course!   

Enroll in the Photography Course here: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/drone-photo-video-made-easy/

The FAA on Tuesday approved Zipline to operate as an air carrier under part 135

Zipline is the first company to a its 135 cert under the FAA’s BEYOND 

program along with Zipline receiving their part 135 certificate, the FAA is asking for public comments on package deliveries in the Pea Ridge Arkansas area

Zipline's proposed area covers 1200 square miles in NW Arkansas, with a maximum of 20 flights per day

Comments will be open for 14 days, the proposal can be viewed here: https://www.faa.gov/advancedoperations/nepaanddrones/zipline-pea-ridge-environmental-assessment

Send comments to: [email protected]

https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/nepa_and_drones

Wingcopter has announced they raised 42 million dollars to expand drone delivery beyond medicine.

The company hopes to use this money to begin deliveries of things like groceries.

“At Wingcopter, we create efficient and sustainable drone solutions to save and improve lives. For this, we are hiring passionate pioneers with whom we build what has not existed before,” said Tom Plümmer, co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter. “The new funding, combined with growing revenues, puts us in an excellent position to establish our industry-leading drone delivery solution with our customers around the globe to optimize supply chains.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wingcopter-raises-42m-to-expand-beyond-medical-drone-deliveries

Currently Zipline is making deliveries every 4 minutes (Worldwide), and is working with Walmart in the US.

Amazon’s  plan to launch their drone deliveries later this year in Lockeford, CA came as a surprise to many folks in the town

It appears that this, as with many Amazon ventures, was kept secret in an attempt to prevent backlash.

Amazon is apparently reaching out to those within 4 miles of the distribution center to determine who is interested in trying drone deliveries.

Packages will be under 5lbs, and will be limited to certain goods.

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jun/21/amazons-drones-plan-a-surprise-to-residents/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3531431-faa-approves-drone-delivery-from-zipline/