America’s First Commercial Drone Delivery Service

An exciting new aircraft has joined the National Air and Space Museum collection — the Wing delivery drone that made the first commercial drone delivery to a U.S. home.

The drone was recently donated to the Museum by Wing.

Wing's history

Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has built a fleet of highly-autonomous small, lightweight delivery drones that can transport small packages directly to homes in minutes. Wing has also developed services for Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM).

Created in 2012 at X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, Wing has conducted more than 100,000+ flights across three continents. Wing believes drone delivery will improve the way our cities operate by improving access to the things people need, reducing road congestion and creating new economic opportunities for local businesses.

Wing began making commercial drone deliveries to real homes in Australia and Finland in 2019, before preparing for their U.S. launch.

Making drone delivery real in America

Wing began a first-of-its-kind commercial delivery service to residents of Christiansburg, Virginia on October 18, 2019.

Three Wing drones took off in short order that afternoon, one carrying cough medicine, one chocolates and one a winter vest. They flew autonomously to three different customers, passing a major aviation milestone along the way.

This service launch was enabled by a first-of-its-kind Air Carrier Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA permissions allowed a pilot to oversee multiple uncrewed aircraft making commercial deliveries simultaneously to the general public, paving the way for the most advanced drone delivery service in the nation.

Wing’s aircraft

Wing’s delivery drones are designed with both fixed wings and hover propellers to transition between airplane- and helicopter-style flying. That enables the drone to take off and hover vertically, but also cruise forward at high speeds — all while keeping the package steady.

Wing’s aircraft is small, lightweight and fully customized to deliver packages. The body is largely encased with durable foam, similar to that used in bike helmets. The booms are carbon fiber, like the material used in golf club shafts.

Length ~ 1.3m / 4.3ft
Wingspan ~ 1.0m / 3.3ft
Designed to carry up to~ 1.5kg / 3.3lbs
Weighs ~ 4.8kg / 10.6lbs
Cruises ~ 113 kph / 70mph
Designed to deliver up to ~ 10km / 6 mi away

Wing’s merchant partners

Wing began its service in Virginia with three partners — Walgreens, FedEx Express, and local Christiansburg retailer Sugar Magnolia. These were each the first businesses in the United States to offer this form of local air delivery to customers.

Since then, Wing has expanded its offering to include things like fresh pastries, coffee products and hot made-to-order meals from a local restaurant.

A number of Wing delivery boxes have also joined the Museum's collection.

Drones deliver during COVID-19 pandemic

In early 2020, as COVID-19 spread and families were encouraged to stay home, Wing saw a dramatic increase in the number of customers using their service around the world.

In response, Wing began looking for new ways it could use its technology to help local residents. One initiative to come out of those efforts was the launch of the world’s first library book drone delivery service, partnering with Virginia schools to encourage students to keep reading during their extended out-of-school time.

Delivery step 1: order

So how does a drone delivery work?

Wing deliveries begin with its mobile app, which eligible customers are invited to download. They scroll through the catalog, select the products they need and checkout like any typical online shopping experience.

During the final step of ordering, customers are asked to choose between pre-selected delivery spots on their property.

For customers that opt-in, qualifying FedEx Express packages are delivered to their home via drone.

Delivery step 2: flight planning

Wing software automatically calculates the route from the launch site to the customer, taking into account safety and regulatory restrictions. The flight plan is then uploaded to the drone.

Delivery step 3: packing and pickup

Wing’s merchant partner pulls items off the shelf and places them inside a specially-designed package. Once prepared, the merchant requests a Wing aircraft to pick up the package.

The aircraft takes off vertically, proceeds to the package pickup spot, hovers about 7 meters (23 feet) off the ground and uses a winch to lower a specialized hook. The package is attached to the hook, lifted up and secured in place for flight.

Delivery step 4: flight and delivery

The drone climbs vertically to a cruise height of about 40 meters (~130 feet) and transitions to forward flight like an airplane. The aircraft is designed to travel up to 10 km (6.2 miles) away at speeds approaching 130 km/h (70 mph).

The aircraft proceeds to the customer’s home. Once it arrives, the drone slows down, hovers, and descends vertically to a safe height about 7 meters (23 feet) above the ground. The drone slowly lowers the package to the ground. By design, no human interaction is required during delivery.

Wing on the future of drone delivery

So how will drone delivery change they way we interact with the world? As Wing puts it:

"Think back to the last time you came down with a cold, opened your medicine cabinet and found nothing useful. Chances are you hopped in a 1.5 ton car to pick up about 15 grams of medicine. You sat stuffy-nosed at traffic lights and walked into a store while ill, all the while contributing to road congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.

Or maybe you never had this choice at all. Maybe you are one of the many who can’t make a quick trip to the shops -- including those with mobility issues or lack of transportation; those who are working parents or busy professionals.

That’s our current transportation system. It’s slow, inefficient, and unsustainable.

Drone delivery is safer, faster and more sustainable. It’s not a one-size-fits all solution, but we believe it will be part of an intelligent transportation system, taking advantage of the sky to deliver small packages on demand."

The Wing drone that joined our collection will eventually go on display in the upcoming "Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery" and will help us tell the story of how aviation can reshape how we live and work in our communities.