Seems the Orkney Mail by Drone is temporarily suspended…
Back to the old fashioned postie then.
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The company is now considering ways to retrieve the drone
Would the cost of a deep sea diving team not far outweigh the cost of a replacement drone 
The drone owner, Skyports Drone Services
And I still can’t see that word without my brain reading it as SkySports.
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Maybe they got mixed up, thought they was playing water postooo
(i’ll get my coat)
The service was originally part of a three-month trial that started on 1 August.
That’s a long 3 months … some might call it 4 months. 
So it had a parachute but no flotation devices? I would have thought a load-carrier like that could have coped with a couple of floats…
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what about the lost post… does anyone know what it was or contained… could be a significant cost claim if it’s something important in that lost mail… I’m guessing they aren’t flying junk mail publications
where there is blame there is a claim for some lucky customers…
The article states no items was on board the drone ?
A spokesperson said the craft was not carrying any cargo at the time and there was no damage to people or property
ah… could have been a negligence claim…
sorry drones for mail, food and parcels are a daft idea in the UK… a place of huge weather variation… if you can’t drive or send a boat or ferry, a uav cannot fly
great for proof of concept testing for those areas that have no or really poor infrastructure but not the uk
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So - on a clear/calm day - van diesel, the cost of a ferry, several hours of the postman’s pay, perhaps to deliver 1 small parcel? … that’s not going to be cheaper than a 20 minute (or whatever) drone flight!
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They make sense for parts of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
It’s time consuming getting around and regular cancellations on the ageing ferry fleet often causes isolation for the islanders.
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so when do we plan on replacing the ageing ferry fleet?
or is the plan not to replace it as we now have alternative options of shipments that will make islanders even more isolated
I’m sorry anything that is knackered and is provided as a service and is charged for is down to poor management…
they should have banked the ferry replacement costs and fore planned it’s due replacement as it was known in advance and could have been planned for…
if we save 1 or 2 ferry sailings through the use of drones are islanders going to feel better connected, given their service has now been cut
(it has no bearing on me as I don’t live in a remote location and I really couldn’t give a hoot if there was no ferry’s and they were never replaced … but I’m not sure that saying drones probably are the answer to poor infrastructure and bad planning and really bad money management)
same is applicable to all other elements that are provided or needed as a public service.
besides diesel is on its way out as far as road transport is concerned as part of the long term strategy and zero carbon planning of the transport system… electric vans are the future (sorry not an advocate, just stating the direction)
royal mail is personally up against a rock and a hard place… it has competitors who can choose not to deliver to those difficult locations or charge a premium, where as royal mail is “stuck” with the “universal” postage charge and subsidising postage costs for those areas that are relatively easy (and cheap) to deliver to (all cities) against the higher cost areas which are difficult to get to… and their competitors can charge a reduced rate to those areas that are easy to get to
another alternative could be to charge in relation to the actual cost of delivery… 5p in London, 10p in other major cities and up to say £10 per letter to those areas that are difficult to get to… that would be the “correct” way but not the fair way
maybe in the end there will be no royal mail… it has been slowly shaving bits of the company and ending exclusive relationships… maybe the end game is to end up with a lot smaller company that is no longer profitable and sustainable through swings and roundabouts… so it declares bankrupt and is then renationalised as “a service that cannot fail”.
watch this space…
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as stated above royal mail through the universal postage service subsidise postage costs across the country.
the one that is really interesting is how international postage charges work… the country shipping the parcel keeps the money and the recipient country has to deliver the parcels free, as it is expected that the recipient country recovers their postage delivery costs through their own reciprocal parcel shipments abroad
hence why shipping stuff from china costs pennies (yuan)…
Couldn’t find the cost of the aircraft but here is a screenshot of the spec:
I imagine that the two 12S batteries made a nice fizz as they met the seawater.
It made a “controlled landing” in the water. Yep just like my mini 3 Pro last June. That made a controlled landing ( pointing straight downwards at some paved area) Had to be a controlled landing as my fingers were on the controls at the time 
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Well that was never going to happen, was it.
could it have been ice formation on the propellers whilst it has been very cold (A2 cofc learning)…