Drone delivery
 

Has anyone had anything delivered by drone from amazon or FedEx, or UPS? I think it's available in Canada, but probably not in the US. Right? Or is it still just a "Popular Science magazine" wannabe?

I'm thinkin' in the US, it would make good target practice, right?

Its just a concept at this point. The latest FAA rules sort of killed it, because the UAV has to be in visual sight of the operator at all times.

I dont understand the twitch reaction people have at shooting these things down...

It has not happened in the USA as yet. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

UAVs sound like a neat idea and may will work in some limited situations. It will be a while before it works over any real distance. The liability insurance will be a tricky thing to figure out. Once one of them smashes into a building, a car or worse a human and kills or injures someone the lawyers will come running. A UAV that can carry a several pound package 10 miles and get back to the warehouse is not going to be a cheap thing. Especially if the wind comes up or the rain starts. They will not be flying much in windy areas. It is hard to fly a Cessna in 30 to 40 MPH winds and that is not uncommon around Oklahoma. Most UAVs will be just a pile of plastic in short orser in 40 MPH winds.

Well, I certainly wouldn't shoot at one, but I'll bet some people would. I think Canada is using them for short delivery, in Toronto for example.

I am heavily in this trade space and Amazon is pushing their UAS delivery angle as a way of addressing the stupidity of the FAA.

Amazon and many other large companies are looking at the commodity crops in this country as the ultimate prize. A small company that does post mission precision agriculture work was just bought for $938M.

Once safe and efficient beyond line of sight control of UAS is possible, stand by.

I'm quite good with a shotgun. I wonder if I would be allowed to keep the deliveries. Sort of like salvage laws I guess.

Good idea. Sorta like bobbin' for apples, except not, and with a shotgun.

Seems like thieves would spot it coming and be tripping over each other to steal the packages.....Kinda like they follow the trucks now...

And what will the drones do? Put the delivery on your porch and then fly back?
Lets just imagine they will make it through the heavy artillery mentioned above. Will it wait for the customer to sign before loosening the grip around the package?

Sure ...

As mentioned before, why do some feel a need to automatically want to shoot down a drone? Not smart.

Dude, my picture was simply for comedic value (if your comment was directed at me) Now start flying around my place taking pictures, and yeah it's skeet time.

I can't quite grasp the concept of how this would be a better and cheaper way of delivery, is it going to drop the package on the lawn, or is going to deliver it to the front desk like UPS does ? Also, the insurance angle of having these things dropping onto a busy interstate or hurting someone is huge. I just don't see it long trem.