On Sept. 1, DDC announced that it had successfully tested several critical aspects of the Condor, including triple-redundant communications system (satellite, cellular, 900MHz RF); triple-redundant navigational guidance system; triple-redundant autopilot system; monitoring of unmanned flights remotely from DDC’s Operations Control Centre in Vaughan, Ontario; general flight stability and performance; and fuel consumption characteristics.
DDC has now announced that in October, it successfully tested many of the above aspects again, in addition to numerous other attributes of the Condor, including multiple unique flying patterns, multiple velocity vectors and altitude profiles, sound pressure levels, engine tuning characteristics, maintenance procedures, logging of flight data, and extended endurance testing in varying environmental conditions.
In preparation for commercialization, DDC expects to complete further Condor testing in Q4 2020. DDC notes that pursuant to proposed Transport Canada regulations, the Condor would not require a formal aircraft type-certification when operated in specific lower-risk (remote) locations, as is intended.
“We are very pleased with the ongoing successful testing of our Condor delivery drone. We continue to make favorable progress with the Robin XL as well,” says Michael Zahra, president & CEO of DDC.
“The Sparrow, Robin XL and Condor all have unique use-case applications based on range and payload capabilities, and we are excited to have the two additional models coming to market. Robin XL & Condor pre-selling efforts are underway and market response has been very favorable in Canada and internationally, and we are working on a number of specific prospective opportunities for both.”
Once DDC has completed testing, commercialization in support of COVID-19 related activities, as well as remote area deliveries, would begin for 2021 projects. Flight approvals would be requested through Transport Canada following the Special Flight Operations Certificate (SFOC) process that the company has successfully used in the past. DDC currently has three Condor aircraft, one of which is being prepared for future commercial customer operations.
Currently the company’s largest drone, the Condor has an expected range of 124 miles and a payload capacity of 396 pounds. Equipped with DDC’s patented FLYTE software system, the Condor is marketed in a managed service SaaS business model in Canada and as a licensed managed service internationally.
