Amazon Makes First Drone Delivery: An Airdrop of Popcorn Near Cambridge, England

On December 14, 2015 Alan Levin and Spencer Soper of Bloomberg.com reported "An Airdrop of Popcorn Makes Amazon Drone Delivery History." From this I quote:

"Retail giant Amazon.com Inc. has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer, dropping off one of its Fire TV streaming devices and a bag of popcorn to a house in the English countryside 13 minutes after receiving an online order.

"The delivery occurred Dec. 7 near Cambridge in a zone that U.K. aviation authorities have authorized for drone test flights, according to a tweet Wednesday by company Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and a video documenting the flight. “First-ever #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in the books,” Bezos said in the tweet. “13 min -- click to delivery.”

"The custom-built quad copter is seen in the video floating over green farm fields before nestling down onto a lawn and dropping off the package. The ruddy-cheeked customer, identified only as Richard B. of Cambridgeshire, then trots out into the yard to pick up the purchases after the drone took off.

“ 'We’re starting with two customers now and in the coming months we’ll offer participation to dozens of customers living within several miles of our U.K. facility, and then growing to hundreds more,”' the video narrator said. “After that, well it’d be easy to say the sky’s the limit, but that’s not exactly true anymore, is it?'

"While the flight was conducted under U.K. restrictions that for now prohibit such deliveries on a widespread basis, it marks a milestone in the race by companies like Amazon and Alphabet Inc. to use unmanned vehicles to transform how customers buy and receive goods. The company is beginning broader delivery trials in an attempt to gather safety data to justify an expansion of the program.

Drone-Delivery Radius

"Amazon says it is conducting the testing in the U.K. because regulations in the U.S. are too strict. Amazon announced the delivery five hours before Bezos and other technology industry leaders were scheduled to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to cut regulations across the board.

"Amazon is making its drone-delivery service available to customers who live within a few miles of the U.K. facility it built to test deliveries.

"After the Dec. 7 order was received and the items were packaged, the cargo was automatically loaded onto the underside of a quad copter. A small rail bed carried the drone out of the building and into a field.

"The drone then lifted off and flew using the company’s automation software for guidance, the narrator of the company’s video said. U.K. rules require a human operator to be standing by to take over in the event of a failure. It flies no higher than 400 feet (122 meters).

"The drone landed with the help of a target placed on the ground to guide the craft’s sensors to a safe touchdown zone. After dropping the package, the drone lifted off and returned to the company’s facility."