[Goldwingnut]

UPS reached out to me in early March on this idea looking for information and some direction with The Villages. I had the pleasure of meeting with Fred Lopez the Director of Engineering for UPS Flight Forward Inc. several weeks ago to discuss this new venture and delivery here in The Villages. We spent the entire day riding driving around The Villages and surrounding areas discussing their plans, strategies, and the technologies needed to implement this delivery model. We also discussed the structure, governance, and political aspects of The Villages and how it differs from any other community in the country.

There are many aspects of this I don't feel it is appropriate to discuss publicly yet but I will share with everyone the basics.

UPS plans to launch their aircraft from a maned site adjacent to a CVS store. The aircraft would carry a package with multiple prescriptions for customers in a general area. The aircraft would fly over uninhabited areas to a given location and lower the package to an awaiting UPS employee. The final mile for delivery would be done by the person receiving that package to the various customers.

The aircraft would not land due to additional FAA constraints. The aircraft would not deliver directly to a person's home, there are many reasons for this safety and privacy being primary. The aircraft would not be flying over homes or occupied areas for safety reasons.

My overall impression of the response received by UPS from the district and developer was less than enthusiastic. I guess if the developer isn't in control and not getting a cut there is no support from them or the strings they pull, this is consistent with my own observations.

Will this be successful? Hard to say, there are a lot of kinks details to be worked out as well as determining the economic feasibility and viability of the concept. UAS deliveries will happen, that is inevitable, how long it takes to be successful will depend on both technology and the government bureaucracy response. My experience in the drone community is that the FAA is very sluggish and unyielding to paradigm changes and is extremely reluctant to let this technology move ahead as they will have near zero control as compared to current maned flights constraints.

It will be an interesting experiment to watch unfold.