Engineer designs Circular Runways for drones

Amsterdam: The Dutch engineer behind the idea for circular runways at airports has revealed plans to build a test runway for unmanned delivery drones, reports BBC.

Henk Hesselink is collaborating with Valkenburg airport, a disused naval base near The Hague, which has ambitions to become a drone innovation centre.

His design for circular runways at passenger airports captured global attention last year, in aviation circles and on social media.

The point, he explained, was to make more efficient use of space, reduce tricky crosswind landings and cut down on noise pollution. Mr Hesselink, a senior research and development manager at the Netherlands Aerospace Centre, says growing demand for drone delivery services will call for “a network of drones, surfing distribution centres”.

While small drones will be used to deliver goods direct to your home, larger drone aircraft will be needed to carry goods to out-of-town distribution centres, he argues.

These larger drones would be of a fixed-wing design like aeroplanes, rather than the quadcopter design favoured by hobbyists. These are more fuel efficient, fly for longer and can carry more cargo.

 

Engineer designs Circular Runways for drones

Amsterdam: The Dutch engineer behind the idea for circular runways at airports has revealed plans to build a test runway for unmanned delivery drones, reports BBC. Henk Hesselink is collaborating with Valkenburg airport, a disused naval base near The Hague, which has ambitions to become a drone innovation centre. His design for circular runways at passenger airports captured global attention last year, in aviation circles and on social media. The point, he explained, was to make more efficient use of space, reduce tricky crosswind landings and cut down on noise pollution. Mr Hesselink, a senior research and development manager at the Netherlands Aerospace Centre, says growing demand for drone delivery services will call for a network of drones, surfing distribution centres. While small drones will be used to deliver goods direct to your home, larger drone aircraft will be needed to carry goods to out-of-town distribution centres, he argues. These larger drones would be of a fixed-wing design like aeroplanes, rather than the quadcopter design favoured by hobbyists. These are more fuel efficient, fly for longer and can carry more cargo.