Not just wings: Drone deliveries expand beyond chicken wings in Holly Springs
Food deliveries by drone are still available in only a small part of Wake County, but the menu continues to grow.
Drone maker Flytrex recently announced that its customers in Holly Springs will be able to get deliveries of Ben & Jerry’s, Good Humor and other ice cream brands made by Unilever. This comes a few weeks after a Jersey Mike’s Subs shop joined the restaurants and retailers in Holly Springs Towne Center that now deliver products by air.
Flytrex, based in Israel, and North Carolina-based Causey Aviation began making drone deliveries in Holly Springs last fall. They started small, with chicken wings from It’s Just Wings to a single nearby subdivision, Forest Springs.
Now they’ll deliver a mile in any direction from Holly Springs Towne Center, off Bypass 55, and the offerings have grown to include Starbucks, Taco Bell, Papa John’s and Target. The ice cream will come from The Ice Cream Shop, Unilever’s new virtual storefront for deliveries.
As of mid-May, Flytrex and Causey had delivered more than 23,000 items by drone in Holly Springs, according to spokeswoman Noa Bendory. Average delivery time is three minutes, Bendory said, and on their busiest day in April the companies fielded an order every 3.5 minutes and had three drones operating at once.
The drone deliveries are possible because of a partnership with the N.C. Department of Transportation and a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration of rules limiting the use of drones. The FAA has granted several waivers under a program launched by the Trump administration to help determine how to safely use drones for commerce in the U.S.
The federal agency requires the drone operator to keep the aircraft in sight throughout the flight, limiting how far they can go. The Flytrex drone cruises at an altitude of 230 feet, then descends to about 80 feet before lowering a bag on a tether to a customer’s yard or other open space.
Customers order using the Flytex app, which shows the delivery area. The order must fit within the drone and weigh no more than 6.6 pounds.
The drone operator doesn’t actually steer the drone. Instead of a joy stick or other controls, the craft is guided by satellite over a pre-programmed route.
Flytrex began making drone deliveries in North Carolina from a Walmart shopping center in Fayetteville in September 2020. It expanded to a second Walmart shopping center in Raeford in April 2021 and Holly Springs last October.
It recently launched deliveries in Granbury, Texas, west of Fort Worth. Flytrex says it has made more deliveries via drone in the U.S. than any other company and, based on its experience in North Carolina, is seeking certification from the FAA to begin making drone deliveries nationwide.
This story was originally published May 28, 2022 at 10:51 AM.
