{"id":18942,"date":"2021-07-23T13:29:56","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T13:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=18942"},"modified":"2021-07-23T13:41:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T13:41:18","slug":"drone-delivers-supplies-to-ocracoke-in-trial-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/north-carolina\/drone-delivers-supplies-to-ocracoke-in-trial-flight\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Drone Delivers Supplies to Ocracoke in Trial Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ocracoke Island\u2019s charm stems from its isolation, but that\nisolation brings challenges. Especially when storms hit, it can be difficult to\nget vital supplies onto the island. That may soon become a little easier thanks\nto successful drone trial flights conducted yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NCDOT\u2019s Division of Aviation, in partnership with the NCDOT\nFerry Division and U.S.-based drone logistics company Volansi, completed two\nsuccessful trial flights of a delivery drone from Hatteras to Ocracoke Island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a tremendous first step in better connecting\nOcracoke Island to potentially life-saving supplies and equipment,\u201d said\nSecretary of Transportation Eric Boyette. \u201cToday, Ocracoke Island is accessible\nonly by plane or by boat. What we\u2019re working on here is an entirely new, third\nmethod of serving the needs of Ocracoke\u2019s people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Thursday\u2019s test flights, a drone took off from the\nHatteras Village ferry dock and landed at the South Dock on the north end of\nOcracoke Island. The eight-mile round trip flights averaged only 18 minutes in\nflight time. To simulate a real post-storm emergency delivery operation, both\nflights carried small payloads. The first delivered a small survival kit, space\nblankets and a chocolate muffin to Ocracoke, while the second delivered bottles\nof water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was just a small trial, but we hope to continue\nscaling this up to larger payloads and longer flights,\u201d said NCDOT Unmanned\nAerial Systems Program Manager Ben Spain. \u201cLong-term, we could see deliveries\ncoming to Ocracoke all the way from the mainland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flights were conducted under NCDOT supervision by a team\nfrom Volansi, who also provided the aircraft. The Volansi C-10 Gemini is\ncapable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing horizontal flight\nand can carry a payload up to five pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

NCDOT\u2019s Ferry Division was an integral part of the operation\nand witnessed the benefits drones are capable of providing people like those\nliving on a barrier island. This same aircraft could be outfitted with a camera\nto monitor shoaling in the ferry channels and could reduce the strain on the\nferries as a way to get important items quickly to the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operation was possible by a waiver for beyond visual\nline of sight (BVLOS) flight granted under the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s\nBEYOND program, which enables select state and local agencies to conduct drone\noperations that test the future capabilities of the technology. The next test\nwill involve flying a drone from Hatteras all the way to the Village of\nOcracoke. The timing of that trial has not yet been determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ocracoke Island\u2019s charm stems from its isolation, but that isolation brings challenges. Especially when storms hit, it can be difficult to get vital supplies onto the island. That may soon become a little easier thanks to successful drone trial flights conducted yesterday. NCDOT\u2019s Division of Aviation, in partnership with the NCDOT Ferry Division and U.S.-based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-carolina","category-unmanned-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/obx-drone-3edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18942"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18948,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18942\/revisions\/18948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}