# Elroy Air Chaparral > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elroy_Air_Chaparral > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elroy_Air_Chaparral.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elroy_Air_Chaparral > Source revision: 1321164393 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Cargo General information Type Unmanned cargo delivery system National origin United States Manufacturer Elroy Air History First flight 12 November 2023[1] The **Elroy Air Cargo** is an unmanned [cargo aircraft](/source/Cargo_aircraft) developed by American startup company Elroy Air, intended to replace land [delivery trucks](/source/Delivery_truck) on inefficient routes with [unmanned aircraft](/source/Unmanned_aircraft). ## History The San Francisco-based company was founded in November 2016 by David Merrill, CEO and Clint Cope, VP engineering. Elroy Air initially pursued the [electric aircraft](/source/Electric_aircraft) VTOL [air taxi](/source/Air_taxi) market, but turned to autonomous cargo aircraft to avoid the complications of passenger-carrying certification. In December 2017, the company secured [US$](/source/US%24)4.6 million of [seed funding](/source/Seed_funding), led by aerial mobility investor Levitate Capital.[2] By early 2018, a full-scale prototype had been tested at [Half Moon Bay Airport](/source/Half_Moon_Bay_Airport), south of San Francisco. Its lift system—rotors, motors and controllers—was rigged on a truck-based testbed to verify the [aerodynamic lift](/source/Aerodynamic_lift) produced and the [aircraft noise](/source/Aircraft_noise) levels for urban operations. In early 2018 a subscale prototype was under construction to validate the aerodynamics and controls, with ground testing planned in early March 2018 and first flight by late March. The full-scale aircraft was forecast to be flown by late summer 2018.[2] In early 2019, Elroy Air raised another $4.6 million, giving it a total of $9.2 million.[3] On August 14, the Chaparral made its first flight at [Camp Roberts, California](/source/Camp_Roberts%2C_California), completing a 64 second hover. The hybrid-electric propulsion system for beyond-line-of-sight testing should fly in the second half of 2020 on a second prototype. A further [Series A funding](/source/Series_A_funding) round was required for serial production.[4] In January 2022, unveiled the pre-production Chaparral C1. Its cargo capacity reached 500 lb (230 kg), while its range was claimed to be 300 mi (480 km).[5] ## Design The [tandem-wing](/source/Tandem-wing) design employed in the air cargo role has a [pusher propeller](/source/Pusher_propeller) for forward flight, six propellers under twin booms for vertical lift and a pod to carry 150 lb (68 kg) of cargo under the central fuselage. The [hybrid electric](/source/Hybrid_electric) powertrain has [variable-pitch](/source/Variable-pitch) rotors with a large diameter to turn more slowly, for redundancy and to reduce noise. Its 150 mile (240 km) [operational radius](/source/Range_(aeronautics)) is optimized for [express delivery](/source/Express_delivery). Ground robots are planned to be employed for [ground handling](/source/Ground_handling) and one pilot would be responsible for an entire aircraft fleet.[2] ## Specifications *Data from* Aviation Week[4] **General characteristics** - **Crew:** None (autonomous) - **Capacity:** 500 lb (230 kg) - **Max takeoff weight:** 1,215 lb (551 kg) - **Powerplant:** 6 × electric rotors - **Powerplant:** 1 × pusher propeller - **Range:** 300 mi (480 km, 260 nmi) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [https://www.forbes.com/sites/edgarsten/2023/11/16/elroy-air-autonomous-hybrid-electric-vtol-makes-historic-first-flight/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/edgarsten/2023/11/16/elroy-air-autonomous-hybrid-electric-vtol-makes-historic-first-flight/) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AvWeek2feb2018_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AvWeek2feb2018_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-AvWeek2feb2018_2-2) Graham Warwick (Feb 2, 2018). ["Unmanned Cargo Aircraft Head Toward Flight Tests"](http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/unmanned-cargo-aircraft-head-toward-flight-tests). *Aviation Week & Space Technology*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Jeremy Bogaisky (Feb 13, 2019). ["Before Amazon Drops Packages On Your House From The Air, Drones May Start To Transform Air Cargo"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2019/02/13/before-amazon-drops-packages-on-your-house-from-the-air-drones-may-start-to-transform-bulk-air-cargo). *Forbes*. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AvWeek29aug2019_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AvWeek29aug2019_4-1) Graham Warwick (Aug 29, 2019). ["Unmanned Cargo Aircraft Take A Step Closer With Elroy Air Flight"](https://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/unmanned-cargo-aircraft-take-step-closer-elroy-air-flight). *Aviation Week & Space Technology*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Blain, Loz (2022-01-27). ["Elroy Air unveils its heavy-lift, long-range, hybrid cargo VTOL"](https://newatlas.com/aircraft/elroy-chaparral-cargo-uav/). *New Atlas*. Retrieved 2022-01-27. ## Further reading - Mike Murphy (December 22, 2017). ["Massive robot-powered drones may solve everything wrong with package delivery"](https://qz.com/1163960/delivery-drone-startup-elroy-air-announces-4-6-million-in-seed-funding-to-take-to-the-skies/). *[Quartz Media](/source/Quartz_Media)*. - Marco Margaritoff (December 22, 2017). ["Elroy Air's 'Aluminum Falcon' VTOL Drone Can Carry Up to 150 Pounds"](http://www.thedrive.com/aerial/17176/elroy-airs-aluminum-falcon-vtol-drone-can-carry-up-to-150-pounds). *The Drive*. [Meredith Corporation](/source/Meredith_Corporation). ## External links - [Official website](http://www.elroyair.com/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elroy Air Chaparral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elroy_Air_Chaparral) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elroy_Air_Chaparral?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.