Bristow have signed a Letter of Intent with Elroy Air to ‘pre-order’ 100 Chapparal hybrid-electric VTOL UAS. In the event Bristow exercises the LOI the Chapparals will be the first dedicated cargo aircraft in the company’s fleet.
Bristow says that it plans to use the autonomous UAS serve logistics, healthcare, and energy applications. “Leveraging our expertise as both a helicopter and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operator, we plan to use the Elroy Air Chaparral aircraft to fill an increasing demand for the movement of time-sensitive cargo for logistics, health care and energy applications,” said Bristow Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer Dave Stepanek. “Bristow has 70+ years of experience moving people and cargo. We expect to leverage that experience to usher in a new era of vertical lift operations and meet the express shipping cargo needs in cities and regions without relying on existing or new airport infrastructure.”
According to Elroy, the first production version of the Chaparral will carry 300–500 pounds (136 to 226kg) of cargo over a 300-mile (482 km) range with its hybrid-electric powertrain and vertical and forward-flight propulsors. Goods will be loaded into an underslung pod that latches to the fuselage and can autonomously be picked up and dropped off in a 50-foot landing square. It is worth noting that while the Chapparal is touted as an autonomous UAS the announcement allows that it will also have the facility for remote piloting “to comply with civil aviation authorities and airspace integration policy”.
