Has anyone else noticed the BVLOS trials in London blocking large chunks of airspace? It seems these flights are trials for the NHS (pathology examples etc) but how much will this whizzy project cost us? Surely it’s much cheaper to use a two-wheeled courier? I bet one of those Just Eat delivery riders on their tuned e bikes would be faster (so long as they’re not out nicking our phones) and cheaper.
Not only will this project be eye-wateringly expensive but I notice all the hoops, bureacracy and expense (commercial) pilots are put through to fly VLOS in a congested area with a sub 250g drone. Did you know these can be waived with a little political will? Alphabet (Google’s parent co) etc have obtained permission to fly BVLOS over a congested area up to 600’ and these are mid sized UAVs.
It seems so long as the project is shiny, edgy tech and state run the rules are for others. By the CAA’s own standards a falling drone sub 250g will not kill. Anything over that has the potential to do just that.
Ah but it’s for ‘our’ NHS. So that’s alright then. Oh and good luck finding out how much these trials are costing.
Where I worked, Royal Lancaster Infirmary, have been trialling drones. They have hospitals in Lancaster, Kendal & Barrow. Anyone knowing the area will know how long it takes to drive/ride from Lancaster to Barrow, the route the trials are using.
Straight line for a drone is 14 miles, road is 46 miles (just over an hour with no traffic).
Was going to say something similar for the Highlands. Much of Caithness and Sutherland has been completely snowed in for the past week and the NHS has had to call on volunteers from local farms to shuttle staff about by tractor. Pretty sure a BVLOS drone or ten would’ve come in very handy. Same for Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles with all their smaller islands.
I’d bet all the money in my bank account that these trials are using very different drones to anything I have and that the hoops they’ll have had to jump through to get this off the ground (forgive the pun) and the oversight they’ll be subject to with every flight would make most of our heads spin.
Thank you both for engaging me and your thoughtful responses. Aside from the technical and safety questions involved (and expense which will be borne by the taxpayer) I do worry about the increasing restrictions on airspace both through regulation and cost. There’s enough about that on this site already so I won’t bang on!
Blood Bikes is a charity and does offer its services to the NHS for free nationwide. But the above concerns about weather/distance/etc still hold - earlier this week the Highlands and Islands Blood Bikes team suspended services because of the road conditions and couldn’t make their regular runs to Wick. (don’t get me started on why the National Health Service is relying on a charity for ‘regular’ deliveries of vital medical supplies to a major hospital serving a population of 40,000!).
I’m sure the volunteers with Blood Bikes would welcome a fallback option of drone deliveries for those times when even they can’t get through.
Yes totally free to the NHS, I know because I was the founder of Blood Bikes Cumbria and South West Scotland. We totally rely on donations to keep us running.