CAA On Air

In this episode we talk with Brenden Hedblom from the Eve Consortium on its new concept of operations (CONOPS) into how future types of flying, such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, could be safety incorporated into London’s airspace. You can find more information on this work at:UK Concept of Operations (CONOPS)Key Considerations for Airspace Integration within an Urban Air Mobility Landscape (CAP 2272)Additional work from Eve:Urban air traffic management concept of operationsFlight Plan 2030 - An air traffic management concept for urban air mobilityOther podcasts from the UK CAA include:CAA Drone safety - https://podfollow.com/caa-drone-safetyCAA on General Aviation - https://podfollow.com/caa-on-general-aviation

In the third and final part of this series we look at how medical deliveries by drone could help support the health service in remote communities across the UK.We speak with Alex Brown, Head of Operations at Skyports about a recent trial that saw drones making medical deliveries between four NHS hospitals in the Scottish Highlands. This project, which reduced the average transport time from 20 hours to 1 hour, involved drones carrying cargo including COVID-19 tests, pathology samples and medicine while flying up to 60kms beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).You can find more information about this work at:https://skyports.net/nhs-trials/andhttps://www.caa.co.uk/innovation

In part two of our three part series we hear about a recent trial that explored using drones for medical deliveries, including essential PPE items, from Cornwall to remote communities on the Isles of Scilly.This project involved Royal Mail and a consortium funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) who we featured in the first part of this series.We speak with Chris Paxton from the Royal Mail, Gareth Whatmore, CEO of Droneprep which led the consortium and Alex Brown from Skyports about the trial, its achievements and what is coming next.You can find out more by visitinghttps://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail-group/scillies-drones-trial/https://vimeo.com/547372795https://droneprep.uk/news/droneprep-and-royal-mail-drone-delivery-to-the-scilly-isles/ The CAA Innovation Hub at http://www.caa.co.uk/innovation

In this episode we begin a three part series that looks at how drones have been used to help the NHS response to COVID-19.We're joined by Simon Masters and Dawn MacGregor from UKRI (UK Research and Innovation), the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation. UKRI's work includes the 'Future flight challenge' which aims to bring together technologies in electrification, aviation systems and autonomy to create new modes of air travel and capability.Some of the projects funded by the 'Future flight challenge' so far have included using drones to support the NHS and emergency services during the COVID-19 pandemic. You'll hear about how these projects were selected, the benefits they can deliver and how the CAA's Innovation team helped support this work.You can find our more about UKRI and the 'Future flight challenge' belowhttps://www.ukri.org/our-work/our-main-funds/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund/future-of-mobility/future-flight-challenge/UKRI Future flight vision roadmaphttps://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/UKRI-130821-FutureFlightVisionRoadmap.pdfFor information about projects focussing on the demonstration aspects of novel classes of electric or autonomous air vehicles and systems see:Future flight challenge phase three: strand onehttps://www.ukri.org/opportunity/future-flight-challenge-phase-three-strand-one/For information about projects focussing on developing enabling technologies and cross-cutting systems that support the deployment of these novel air vehicles in UK airspace see:Future flight challenge phase three: strand twohttps://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/980/overview