Just a few years ago, drones were almost unheard of and the ones we knew about were used by the military. These days, drones are being used by enthusiasts for recreation to commercial architects and surveyors for a number of projects. Are drones the future of Commercial Aviation?
Since drones are controlled remotely they provide a secure system inside the aircraft. However, we start going into the grey zone when they have suggested the concept of developing drones that can carry people with the most worrisome concern being safety.
Today, we will go further to see if drones will be the future of commercial aviation.
Small Beginnings in Personalized Drones
To ride in a drone means to experience how it’s to be inside a small capsule that can carry you to a destination. If this concept becomes a reality, more and more companies will manufacture larger drones to accommodate more passengers.
If this is the case, riding in drones with other passengers might be like riding on a cable car the way you would in San Francisco. The only difference is that you are no longer moving in a linear direction.
Currently, the single-stage drones are in progress, but engineers and designers are working together to make bigger and better models to match what be to that of a commercial airline.
What Is the Difference Between a Commercial Drone and a Commercial Jet?
Commercial drones don’t exist yet, but they have preconceived specs that can be compared with real and actual commercial jets. If the future of such drones is now, you would notice four differences, which would be:
- Pilots
- Motion
- Shapes
- Engines
Pilots
Currently, drones are controlled remotely and there is still a need for human pilots. This may be different in the future if artificial intelligence (AI) is used to control drones. Nonetheless, the idea of either “remote control” or “autopilot” is inherent in drones.
Motion
Imagine a commercial jet moving like a flying saucer. We know how it feels when you get on an elevator or escalator. This could also be the same thing inside a commercial drone.
Shapes
For sure, commercial drones will differ in shape to that of what we see in modern-day aviation. All commercial jets look almost the same, but for commercial drones, all kinds of shapes are possible.
Engines
It’s still difficult to imagine a commercial drone equipped with the same equipment that might be on a regular aircraft. Items like aircraft spark plugs, complex fuel systems, or high-tech engines would feel out of place.
So far, we know that drones are battery-operated and this could be a difficult barrier to get past unless some aviation components are brought into the picture. Engineers are looking at the concept of the solar-powered engine while others are considering the use of Tesla’s bladeless turbines as an option.
Will Drones Replace Commercial Airplanes?
This may seem like a crazy idea, but there were a lot of crazy ideas to how we got to this point in time. Although it’s not likely for drones to replace commercial airlines, there is a high chance that over time, they may play a significant part in transportation as we know it. There are still obstacles that need to be overcome, but technology will play a major role in how we get to that end goal.
Conclusion
Drone technology is slowly blossoming as it has the potential to become a big part of transportation in the future. The concept as a whole may seem like science fiction, but so was the concept of the first aeroplane with the Wright brothers first plane flight in 1903.
