The recent announcement that Guardian Agriculture had achieved Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to operate its aircraft nationally has no doubt caught the attention of those in the eVTOL cargo space, even though its aircraft does more than carry a payload.
Not least because with this permission in place, Guardian seems to be one of the first U.S. eVTOL firm that will bring in revenue as it rolls out hundreds of its SC1 units this summer (with ultralight eVTOLs expected to follow by year’s end).
Because various cargo applications will likely bring in money before passenger transport is permitted, cargo use cases are being actively pursued by many eVTOL firms with planned passenger flights as part of their business model.
Indeed, cargo transport may bring in more revenue than passenger-derived revenue — and cargo transport related to humanitarian relief and emergency response is also sure to build confidence in, and enthusiasm for, eVTOL passenger transport as it rolls out.
Besides these benefits, commercialization of cargo eVTOLs provides another strong advantage. For example, for Volocopter, cargo research and development will involve “reliability testing of flights and parts, experience of flight testing under different environmental conditions, and training operators [remote pilots],” said a spokesperson at Volocopter.
What is the SC1?
Returning to Guardian for a moment, even though the firm has no plans at this point to enter the eVTOL cargo space, let’s examine its aircraft, the SC1.
As mentioned, the 225-kg (500-lb.) utility platform doesn’t just carry cargo (in this case, a tank with crop protection products or seed). It also either sprays crop plants or broadcasts seed using nozzles or dispensers. Indeed, Guardian’s first customer (and an investor in the company) is Wilbur-Ellis, which is the largest custom crop spraying firm in the U.S. It has the option to buy 400 SC1s, and in total, Guardian has pre-orders of over US$100 million.
Like a drone, the SC1 is designed to follow pre-programmed automated patterns based on GPS farm field maps. Astonishingly, it can spray or seed about 40 acres per hour, including quick charging and refilling the tank. It’s lower to the ground, offering more targeted spraying with less wind drift and a lot less expense than spray by airplane. It’s approved for line-of-sight operation at a maximum height of 30.48 meters (100 feet) and maximum speed of 46.7 kilometers per hour (29 miles per hour). And with its GPS guidance, the SC1 can operate 24 hours a day.
But is the SC1 a drone in all but size, or truly an eVTOL?
From a regulatory standpoint, FAA Part 107 governs drones, which are defined as 25 kilograms (55 pounds) or less without cargo. Weight of the aircraft itself aside, the SC1 has a payload limit of about four times that, up to 90.7 kg (200 lb.) in combined tank and tank contents.
For its part, Guardian has stated that the SG1 is an eVTOL not just due to its size, but also its aerospace-grade components and complex software system.
Cargo drones or eVTOLs?
Let’s turn to Volocopter’s cargo aircraft. Even though the company claims it can carry a payload of over double the SG1, up to 200 kg (440 lb.), with a range of up to 40 km (25 mi), Volocopter decided to give it a drone-associated name — the VoloDrone — for a very simple reason.
A Volocopter spokesperson explained that each member of the company’s eVTOL family has the “Volo” prefix but different endings that provide a clear indication of use — in this case, transport of goods that’s typically associated with the word drone.
Volocopter described the VoloDrone as “a utility vehicle that uses drone technology as a foundation. That said, technically neither the VoloCity [air taxi] nor the VoloDrone is purely a drone, and they have very different roles than that of toy or military drones.”
“We understand that others want to see a greater distinction between smaller and larger drones,” said the Volocopter spokesperson. “What is more important, from our point of view, is that the category is easily understood in name and in function by the public, that eVTOLs of any type operate under a stringent set of safety guidelines, and that we as developers and operators of these aircraft adhere to the correct category to fly them.”
On that note, Volocopter said that permission to operate the VoloDrone commercially can start in Europe under the Special Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). SORA allows aircraft such as the VoloDrone to operate over sparsely-populated areas such as water.
Another pathway
San Francisco Bay Area startup MightyFly, on the other hand, has plans to start proof-of-concept operations of its Cento cargo eVTOL with its partners in 2024 under its FAA-approved special airworthiness certificate. This covers research and development, crew training and customer survey, explained Fernanda Sausen, MightyFly senior director of business development.
The Cento, previously referred to as the MF-100, is a hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft with a cargo capacity of 45 kg (100 lb.), range of 965 km (600 mi) and maximum speed of 240 km/h (150 mph). With eight electric vertical-lift fans, one forward propulsion propeller, and a high-wing carbon fiber airframe, the fully loaded Cento weighs 161 kg (355 lb).
“MightyFly is working on exemption 44807 that might be replaced by Part 108,” said Sausen, “and is looking to start its Part 135 application process” for a type-certified eVTOL aircraft.
Exemption 44807 is required “to fly an unmanned aircraft that exceeds the maximum weight limit of Part 107, or your mission includes a non-waiverable rule. [It] grants the Secretary of Transportation the authority to use a risk-based approach to determine if certain unmanned aircraft systems may operate safely in the national airspace system on a case-by-case basis.”
The FAA also states that it has identified provision of exemptions “as a high priority project to address demand for civil operation of drones for commercial purposes.”
Clamping onto cargo
Volocopter and MightyFly are also taking different approaches to cargo attachment.
The VoloDrone system uses both in-house developed and off-the-shelf components.
“Since the use case of the VoloDrone can be vast depending on customer industry requirements, some use cases require specific metrics leading to in-house development,” the Volocopter spokesperson said. “For example, the cargo box we revealed in 2021 is a product of in-house development in collaboration with our partner DB Schenker. But the cargo pallet that goes inside the box is a standard, generic cargo pallet, so we can be efficient in both development and cost.”
MightyFly’s aircraft, however, will carry cargo inside its airframe, eliminating the need for attachment parts.
“The loading and unloading of cargo will be fully autonomous and MightyFly holds the IP for its autonomous loading, unloading and balancing system,” Sausen said.
Cargo applications
Volocopter and MightyFly are both keeping their specific plans private when it comes to cargo applications, but there are some indications of their direction.
On its website, Volocopter lists shore-to-ship and vice versa as possibilities for the VoloDrone, as well as retail and spare parts deliveries, tasks in construction, maintenance and site planning, disaster relief, air rescue, and support for other humanitarian aid efforts.
“Maritime operations are one with great potential for our growth, and we have a clear idea on how the VoloDrone can be used, though we cannot yet disclose when and with what use case we will go into operations,” the Volocopter spokesperson said.
(Skyports Drone Services, a division of vertiport firm Skyports, is also pursuing ship-to-shore operations in Korea, in partnership with Marine Drone Tech.)
Sausen at MightyFly could only share that “the market opportunity for AAM aircraft specialized in cargo logistics is very large and growing. Autonomous cargo delivery aircraft will disrupt the same-day and express logistics market by drastically increasing delivery speed and efficiency and reducing costs.”
She added that “in addition to making same-day delivery services affordable, this innovative logistics solution has the potential to turn today’s next-delivery services into same-day delivery services, further enlarging the $21 billion+ global same-day delivery market.”