Total Russian-made drone disaster

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Verbal
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Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby Verbal » Tue Apr 03, 2018 8:20 pm

Russian postal drone program hits wall in debut
Reuters News 04/02/2018
Author: Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
© Reuters Limited 2018.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian-made drone on its way to making a first parcel delivery crashed into a wall and crumbled to pieces in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Monday, shocking local residents and regional officials at the scene.

The unmanned aerial vehicle was sent to deliver a small package to a neighboring village in a ceremony meant to showcase a new way to deliver mail in the sparsely populated Buryatia region located more than 4,400 km east of Moscow.

Video footage from the scene showed the drone lifting off from a miniature launch pad bearing Russian Post's blue and white logo, buzzing through the air for several seconds before losing height and crashing into a three-storey residential building in front of a small crowd of spectators who were heard uttering expletives.

No one was harmed in the incident, which left debris from the drone in pieces on the ground.

Russian Post was quick to distance itself from the drone crash, saying it was present at the launch merely as a guest. It said the drone was made by a company called Rudron/Expeditor 3M, which had organized the testing. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russia's postal service had announced plans in 2016 to start using drones for parcel deliveries across the vast country.

Alexei Tsydenov, the head of the Buryatia region present at the crash site, said that the more than 100 Wi-Fi connections in the area could have disrupted the drone's flight.

"We won't stop with this, we will keep trying," he said, adding that the device cost some $20,000. "Those who don't risk don't get a result."

Logistics companies and retailers worldwide are starting to try out drones to reach remote customers or those paying a premium for speed.

(Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Alison Williams)
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Gabriel
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby Gabriel » Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:00 am

I never understood this. Until energy is almost free, delivery by a VTOL vehicle (drone or otherwise) will be extremely expensive per pound and ft3. Will only work for very small, light and expensive items (like a ring of diamonds) or people that is craving so much for the item that are willing to pay orders of magnitude more to have the item one day earlier that for the item itself. What can be the size of such markets that would make it worth investing in developing the technology?

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3WE
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby 3WE » Wed Apr 04, 2018 2:42 pm

I never understood this. Until energy is almost free, delivery by a VTOL vehicle (drone or otherwise) will be extremely expensive per pound and ft3....
In the agronomical world, we have folks in Japan spraying 1 Ha rice fields with drone-crop-dusters. In the US where fields are more in the 15 to 40 Ha range, there is still probably something to be said for an AT-802 with an engine salvaged from a Brasilia and a 200 hour commercial pilot with or without a medical or recent BFR...

...still the aircraft, fuel and insurance cost quite a few bucks.
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby flyboy2548m » Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:15 pm

Oh, the places I could go with that one...
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby Ancient Mariner » Wed Apr 04, 2018 10:25 pm

Oh, the places I could go with that one...
This one: "an AT-802 with an engine salvaged from a Brasilia", or the drone?
Per

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3WE
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby 3WE » Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:45 pm

As I think about exhaust pipes, maybe I picked a small turboprop not_powered by a PT-6.
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Gabriel
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby Gabriel » Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:37 am

Oh, the places I could go with that one...
This one: "an AT-802 with an engine salvaged from a Brasilia", or the drone?
Per
Neither. With the "200 hour commercial pilot with or without a medical or recent BFR..."

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3WE
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby 3WE » Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:01 pm

Oh, the places I could go with that one...
This one: "an AT-802 with an engine salvaged from a Brasilia", or the drone?
Per
Neither. With the "200 hour commercial pilot with or without a medical or recent BFR..."
Ok...the 200 hour part might be a bit off.

I am aware of some cowboy improvisation with regard to the others.

These guys were outstanding stick and rudder guys and knew their aircraft intimately and were highly skilled.

AND

Sometimes, beer was involved.

The majority had crashed, but didn't did died. Somewhat linked to lots of exposure to low altitudes with much maneuvering.
Commercial Pilot, Vandelay Industries, Inc., Plant Nutrient Division.

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3WE
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby 3WE » Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:18 pm

Oh, the places I could go with that one...
This one: "an AT-802 with an engine salvaged from a Brasilia", or the drone?
Per
Neither. With the "200 hour commercial pilot with or without a medical or recent BFR..."
OK, there is a minor logic problem here. A 200 hour commercial pilot would sort of kind of be forced to have a medical and would be current with respect to BFR's...cuz you PROBABLY just passed your commercial check ride, which would mean those other things were legal...and it's not likely you waited two years to THEN start spraying...
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Not_Karl
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Re: Total Russian-made drone disaster

Postby Not_Karl » Thu Apr 05, 2018 6:30 pm

Neither. With the "200 hour commercial pilot with or without a medical or recent BFR..."
I was about to say "as long as they're sober and clothed...", but then:
Sometimes, beer was involved.
Let's hope that nudity was Not_involved :shock: (or at least that Nair was liberally applied).
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