A drone delivered emergency medical supplies to a hospital on the Isle of Wight following a series of trial flights in North Cornwall.
The unmanned serial vehicle (UAV) flew from Lee on Solent to St Mary’s Hospital on the important mission for the NHS in just 18 minutes.
Windracers Ltd ran a trial of their twin engine fixed wing UAV, named ULTRA, at St Merryn Airfiled, in North Cornwall, in November, thanks to funding provided by the Cornwall Development Company.
The Aerospace Research and Development programme at Cornwall Development Company, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, supported Windracers’ £168,000 upgrade of the ULTRA UAV and flight trials at St Merryn with a £78,000 grant.
During the project, Windracers engaged with the Isles of Scilly Council, 700X Naval Squadron from RNAS Culdrose, the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Cornwall Airport Newquay air traffic control team.
The demonstration flights were run to confirm the operational and autonomous performance upgrades of the aircraft.
The UAV is able to carry payloads of up to 100 kg for up to 1,000km.
Operated and monitored from a secure and mobile ground station, Windracers’ objective is to operate in Africa from dirt landing strips to deliver food and other urgent aid to communities that struggle to get supplies by road.
The partnership between Windracers and Cornwall Development Company has been a big step forward for Cornwall’s UAV programme and lays a foundation for other businesses to follow.
The support on offer to Windracers is still ongoing, with both sides looking forward to running trials to the Isles of Scilly.A spokesperson for the Cornwall Development Company said: 'This partnership highlights how Cornwall and Isles of Scilly supports disruptive technology and is building its research, development and innovation capability to accelerate projects which have the potential to solve global challenges. 'Cornwall is still open for businesses and is supporting hi-tech companies such as Windracers to enable them to develop products and services that have a positive impact on Cornwall’s economy.'