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Healy III: Manna Aero CEO details US drone delivery plans

Manna drone delivery US

In the third and last installment of DroneDJ’s interview with Bobby Healy, the irrepressible Manna Aero CEO pivots from his plans to introduce drone delivery around Europe to discuss his strategy for launch in the potentially enormous US market. That involves certification of Manna’s proprietary UAVs; introduction and expansion of drone transport through widening suburban “cohorts of scale”; and raising the considerable capital that will require with, most likely, a Wall Street flotation. Should he get the company there, Manna might well have reached the solid, advanced state of growth to allow Healy to move on to his next challenge.

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Healy interview II: Scaling Manna drone delivery under ‘well-defined, cohesive’ EU regulation

Manna drone delivery EU

Manna Aero CEO Bobby Healy is preparing to nearly quadruple the company’s current potential client base in Ireland with the start of drone deliveries in a large Dublin-area town in a few months. From there, he plans to launch activity in European Union nations he considers ready for aerial services. Healy tells DroneDJ in the second part of our interview why he believes its regulations put the EU in particularly strong position to take the global lead in emerging UAV-based services; how Manna’s full-stack drone manufacturing and operation model gives it a business advantage; and why a trained programmer who successfully built two tech travel sector companies decided drone deliveries would be his next challenge.

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Joby eVTOL production, air taxi targets attacked by shorting hedge fund

Joby eVTOL air taxi

Will Joby become the Tesla of futuristic electric takeoff and landing craft (eVTOL) and operator of sustainable air taxi services while having to battle the kind of ferocious nay-saying that Elon Musk did? In some ways it already has, after attracting the unwanted attention of a hostile hedge fund that’s reinforcing its short positions on the company’s stock by circulating in-house research dramatically decrying the activity and revenue targets Joby presented to its investors as utterly unattainable.

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Flytrex CEO forecasts a bust-out 2022 for drone delivery activity – and his company amidst that

Flytrex drone delivery

Flytrex co-founder and CEO Yariv Bash may not be out to change the entire world, but he is intent on revolutionizing the way goods are delivered on the planet with a tightly focused, carefully defined plan of making drones the primary force of that progress.

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SKYMAGIC offers backstage view of its dazzling drone shows

SKYMAGIC drone shows

Everyone loves aerial light performances, but few people ever get a backstage peek at what goes into staging the spectacles. To remedy that, UK- and Singapore-based drone show specialist SKYMAGIC sat down with DroneDJ to offer an idea on how those work ­– and how the company differs from rivals in bringing the skies to life.

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Skydio Cloud offers fleet management, media sync…with more capabilities to come

Skydio Cloud Capabilities

Skydio – the US manufacturer best-known for its AI-equipped drones that can take on tasks some other drones simply can’t – held a webinar today to discuss the capabilities of Skydio Cloud. First announced at AUVSI, the platform is designed to seamlessly integrate with the rest of the company’s platforms. Let’s see what it does.

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10 reasons to buy the DJI FPV drone now – and four against

Editor’s note: If you are new to First Person View drone flight, or would like a refresher on safety tips and drone regs, please read our story on the topic here.

It’s been one day since the release of DJI’s innovative new FPV drone, and many people have already ordered the product. We take a look at some of the main reasons why this might be the perfect fit for someone wanting to get into the world of First Person View flying – and a couple outlining why it might not be a fit for others. Let’s hop in.

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Professionals praise Skydio 2’s AI in webinar featuring two case studies

Skydio held its last webinar of this unusual year on December 22. It featured panelists from the Enterprise and First Responder sectors, as well as more details about Skydio’s optional Autonomy Enterprise Foundation software and its Skydio Academy for pilots. Overall, the focus was the Skydio 2’s AI, and what that means for professionals.

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My journey from pro to hobbyist

Craig Issod's kit

I know what you are thinking: Don’t most articles detail the exact opposite? I’d say you are correct in that more people are interested in moving up — learning more, doing more, and perhaps even making income from their drone operations. However, in a sense, my short tale is more indicative of where the average drone consumer might want to do — that is to have and use these tools on occasion in order to see the world from a different perspective and to share this work and art with others. 

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DreamQii’s PlexiDrone Indiegogo became a nightmare for backers

DreamQii PlexiDrone Feature Image

It looked like a promising product: A multi-featured drone that could be configured for heavier lifting. The young team behind it seemed to have a great UAV on its hands. Backers flocked to the Indiegogo site, throwing money at the Toronto-based startup. With rare exceptions, they didn’t receive the drones — or their money back.

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A belated impression of DJI’s Mavic Air 2: Fantastic

Mavic Air 2

Yes, I realize I’m a little behind the curve to be writing about the Mavic Air 2. But, truth is, I received a loaner just recently, not long after joining DroneDJ. I’d done some indoor flying, but I finally got a chance to get out into the great outdoors. So this will be a relatively brief, “first impressions'” kind of review.

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