UK-based Windracers has secured another customer for its Ultra cargo drone, with the latest client promising to test the aircraft in equally tough operating conditions.
Having already proved its worth to the British Antarctic Survey in operations near to the South Pole, the Ultra will now be put through its paces on the other side of the planet by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), which has acquired two Mk1 examples.
To be operated by the UAF’s Alaska Center of UAS Integration (ACUASI) – one of the USA’s top drone research facilities – the Ultra pair will be used to validate use cases for year-round uncrewed cargo operations and the airspace integration required for beyond visual line of site (BVLOS) flights.
Dr Cathy Cahill, director of ACUASI, points out that thanks to Alaska’s challenging geography and harsh climate, 82% of its communities are not accessible by road.
However, those same conditions also pose a severe threat to flight safety: “We have 1% of the aviation population but 42% of the accidents,” she says, with controlled flight into terrain a frequent cause.
Given the relatively small volumes of cargo required by each community – whether fresh fruit and vegetables or “diapers and milk” – uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) offer an obvious solution without increasing the risk to pilots.
“It really helps aviation safety but also increases the quality of life for residents,” she says.
Additional missions could include aerial surveying and infrastructure monitoring or search and rescue missions, where the aircraft could be used to find a casualty and then drop survival equipment.
Although the faculty had previously investigated the use of larger autonomous Cessna Grand Caravans, it found the cost of acquisition prohibitive, and the airspace integration and operational challenges harder.
ACUASI has already purchased the two Ultra aircraft, which are currently located at Purdue University in Indiana – a research body with which Windracers also has a relationship.
Modifications to the aircraft – including the installation of the detect and avoid system required for BVLOS flights plus an enhanced communications system – will shortly get under way, with ACUASI pilots to begin training on the Ultra in the summer, ahead of delivery to Alaska in late August or early September.
That will usher in a period of airspace integration and other testing, paving the way for the first transport mission in May 2026.
But ACUASI will not stop there, says Cahill, who points out that previous trials of other uncrewed systems included 3D scanning of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway and searching for North Atlantic right whales in the St Lawrence Seaway, among other research missions.
“We performed a tremendous number of varied operations with that UAS, and assume it will be very similar with the Windracers aircraft,” she says. “It will be one of our workhorses.”
However, she is quick to point out that ACUASI will not operate the Ultras on a for-profit basis: “In terms of cargo will only be pioneering it – we are not competing with commercial enterprises.”
“Our goal is to create an environment for the commercial sector in which UAVs, including self-flying cargo aircraft, become ubiquitous in Alaska and beyond.”
Powered by twin Briggs & Stratton motors, the Ultra Mk1 can carry a payload of 100kg (220lb) over distances of around 500nm (926km).
