Elroy Air Tops $2B in Purchase Demand for Chaparral eVTOL With LCI Deal

Firm now boasts orders for more than 900 autonomous cargo drones

Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 10:48 AM ET

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A top down view of Elroy Air's Chaparral C1 aircraft, capable of lifting up to 500 pounds of cargo. [Courtesy: Elroy Air]

Key Takeaways:

Elroy Air has achieved over $2 billion in purchase demand for its Chaparral autonomous cargo eVTOL aircraft, including a key agreement with LCI for up to 40 units primarily for humanitarian and remote logistical missions.
The Chaparral is a hybrid drone capable of carrying 500 pounds over 300 nautical miles, featuring a modular cargo hold and vertical takeoff/landing, making it suitable for operations in challenging, infrastructure-limited environments.
With growing interest from major clients like FedEx and the U.S. Air Force, Elroy Air is expanding its testing operations by moving to a new dedicated flight facility for full-scale air and ground validation of the Chaparral.

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Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on FreightWaves.com.

Much attention has been directed toward Walmart, Amazon Prime Air and Alphabet subsidiary Wing’s forays into drone delivery — perhaps rightfully so given some of the things those companies have built in the past. But looking beyond drone delivery’s trio of titanic names, other firms are subtly carving out their own sizable presence in the space.