Elroy Air has announced it has successfully completed its first point A to point B cargo delivery using its Chaparral drone, an advanced vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft built to carry up to 300 pounds of cargo across 300 miles without a crew onboard.
“Chaparral was engineered with a hybrid-electric powertrain to meet the needs of our commercial and defence customers, with high utilization, no charging infrastructure required, and increased range,” said the company in a press release. “During the historic milestone flight on December 10th, the hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone autonomously carried 213 lbs over a flight distance of 2.6 miles in Byron, California. The aircraft took off vertically, accelerated to a speed of approximately 60 mph and then performed a vertical landing at a second location half a mile away, where Chaparral delivered lunch to the Elroy Air team to celebrate the milestone.”
The delivery was conducted with the company’s Hatch Load Pod. The pod is a rear-access cargo module designed for rapid ground operations, enabling streamlined workflows, and minimal ground handling requirements. This pod is one of the many payload designs to enable multi-mission operations. Others include the Express Pod, Heavy Payload Pod, Pelican Case, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Pod, Climate-Control Pod, and Air Drop Pod.
Watch the delivery here: https://youtu.be/owX0ABb9Gng
For more information
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251218529702/en/Elroy-Air-Makes-First-A-to-B-Cargo-Delivery-With-Its-Hybrid-Electric-VTOL-Aircraft-Chaparral