Ice fishermen on Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota will have to find a new way to quench their thirst after the FAA recently put the kibosh on beer delivery by drone.
Local brewery Lakemaid had been testing a drone delivery system to airlift cases of beer to ice-fishing shacks on the lake north of Minneapolis using Quadracopters. But after posting a YouTube video showing a drone on a test run, the company was ordered to stop. The FAA cited federal regulations that currently prohibit drone flying for commercial purposes.
The agency has recently cracked down on others seeking to use UAVs to make a buck, including commercial photographers and advertisers who have been flying drones for aerial filming. Amazon has announced a plan to deliver goods using drones, but not until the FAA crafts regulations clearing the way for commercial drone use, which is expected to occur sometime after 2015.
Dominoes pizza is working on a similar idea, which could be a perfect tie-in with aerial beer delivery. Once the FARs are written, ice fishermen in Minnesota and elsewhere could benefit from an innovative way of making their chosen sport a bit more entertaining.
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