Windracers, the British drone engineering and manufacturing company, has announced that the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) has commenced flights in Alaska using Windracers ULTRA, a dual-use, heavy-lift drone, to pioneer the delivery of essential supplies to remote communities.
UAF personnel began operating flights from Alaska’s Nenana Municipal Airport this month after completing a three-week training program with Windracers specialists at Indiana’s Jasper County Airport, where Windracers collaborates with research partner AIDA3 at Purdue University.
Earlier this year UAF announced it had secured multiple Windracers ULTRAs for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights to remote communities across Alaska. The region is home to more than 200 remote communities that depend on air transport for essential supplies.
Working closely with the Windracers team, UAF experts gathered valuable data on performance, safety and efficiency in extreme weather and long-range conditions.
Air cargo delivery to our remote communities is vital to life in Alaska, so we purchased the Windracers ULTRA aircraft to test how large unmanned aircraft can be safely used by Alaska air carriers to provide medical supplies and cargo to these communities,” Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Director and UAF Professor, Cathy Cahill, said. “We need aircraft that can safely cover long distances, carry a significant weight of cargo or emergency supplies and do so reliably and regularly,” she said. “Our goal is to create an environment for the commercial sector in which unmanned aircraft become a routine sight in Alaska’s skies.”
Windracers Chief Flight Operations Officer, Rob Datson said, “Windracers is proud to support the University of Alaska Fairbanks as they put their Windracers ULTRAs to work conducting missions in one of the world’s most demanding environments. The Fairbanks team are truly experts in the use of advanced drone technology, and Windracers values the collaboration on platform integration and operational training.”
Windracers North America Lead, Ronnie Dockery, said, “We’re pleased to see the University of Alaska Fairbanks operating the Windracers ULTRA – a great example of our technology in action with a North American partner.”
Image caption: (Left to right) Windracers UAS Pilot Chris Tolley, ACUASI’s Chief Pilot Jason Williams, UAS Pilot Mathew Westhoff and UAS Pilot Brian Lu
