Abstract:
Transporting cargo has been a goal of helicopter operations since the earliest days of development. The concept of carrying passengers and cargo from and to remote locations without a runway was originally exploited by the US military in times of peace and war. Early helicopter designs were limited in fixed useful load after onboarding crew and fuel. The 1940's saw helicopters transporting small, lightweight packages on an as-needed basis. The decade of the 1960's started seeing heavy lift helicopters transporting specialty loads in construction and logistics supply, again on an as-needed basis. Today, several Part 135 helicopter operators offer as needed VTOL cargo services. Blade Air Mobility has developed a successful public company business model in Part 135 passenger transport and is also expanding in carrying parcels. With the advent of transformative VTOL air vehicle designs, there has been increasing emphasis on examining parcel delivery on a regular basis. As omni-channel ecommerce drives the ever-increasing need for same day delivery post order. Retails and distributors need to compete with big box retailers and warehouse companies such as Walmart and Amazon, respectively. This results in reducing or eliminating over-the-road transport delivery. The future of parcel and cargo distribution is proposed to be with VTOL air vehicles. To understand the future of such distribution, it is imperative to examine the development of helicopter size, performance, and operational uses.