The FAA requires redundant communications and controls, transport standards, structural strength, and reserve power capabilities. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification, critical to commercial viability. HorseFly’s near-autonomous operation required one operator. The goal was to validate drone use for emergency and medical situations. With government officials watching, the HorseFly participated in a demonstration in April in Lawrenceville, Virginia, with UPS and DroneUp. And unless they’re looking, they won’t see it.” “But very few people will care if our aircraft flies over because they won’t hear it. “No one wants hundreds of annoying gnats flying over their homes every day,” Graber said. No worries about unintended drone encounters with pets, children and plants. That means lowering packages by winch from 20 feet or more above a residential driveway or backyard. “We’ve designed our aircraft to be quiet and unobtrusive.” “We’re closing in on the final design of our HorseFly 1.0 system and an improved root system for launching and recovering HorseFly from a Workhorse truck,” Graber said. Graber, a former aviation executive who worked with Burns on SureFly, moved over to the HorseFly. Moog ( NYSE:MOG.A) became a joint venture technology partner to help development. Burns licensed the pickup technology from Workhorse in exchange for a 10% equity stake in LMC and royalty payments on the first 200,000 electric pickups sold. (LMC) to build commercial fleet-focused electric pickups - originally a Workhorse plan - in a former General Motors ( NYSE: GM) factory. While a Workhorse consultant, Burns created Lordstown Motors Corp. paid Workhorse $4 million in December 2019. With no money to develop SureFly and the project distracting Workhorse from focusing on building electric trucks, Burns stepped down as CEO in February 2019 and became a consultant, focusing on finding a buyer for the SureFly. That included the SureFly, a two-seat hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) octocopter invented by former Workhorse CEO Steve Burns. HorseFly outlasts SureFlyĪs financial hard times hit Cincinnati-based Workhorse, investment in drones slowed. In 2018, the company posted another video, played more for laughs, of the HorseFly delivering classic sneakers from StockX, an online marketplace for sneakers, streetwear, watches and designer handbags. UPS has a pending order for 950 Workhorse C-Series trucks. In 2017, Workhorse posted a video of its HorseFly drone launching in a rural area from the roof of a United Parcel Service ( NYSE: UPS) truck, successfully delivering a package and returning to the truck. Workhorse filed for patents in April covering key components and capabilities, including its ground control station, winch deliveries and aircraft structure. In four years, the Workhorse HorseFly drone counts hundreds of package deliveries in three states. “Last-mile transportation is hard, aerospace transportation is harder and integrating the two even harder,” Workhorse aerospace lead John Graber said on Monday during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.īut it’s doable. With its composite body electric delivery vans in early production, the company’s aircraft business is closer to taking off. Workhorse Group ( NASDAQ: WKHS) positions itself as an electric truck maker capable of using a truck-mounted drone for package delivery.
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