Will self-flying planes transform the skies?
The article explores the emerging industry of autonomous aircraft, focusing on companies like Pyka that are utilizing pilotless planes for agricultural and cargo tasks. It suggests that these specialized applications may pave the way for future passenger-carrying autonomous flights.
Why it matters
Highlights the technological shift toward automation in aviation and the potential for disrupting traditional logistics and transport.
Image source, Pyka Image caption, Pyka's crop dusters are used in the US and Brazil
Over an alfalfa field in California's San Joaquin Valley, a small crop-spraying plane is flying scarily low to the ground. There's little risk to humans though, as the plane is pilot-free.
"We can actually go lower than a human pilot can," says Russ Marotzke, as the aircraft skims over the crop.
Flying lower means less spray drift and therefore less chemicals are needed than in conventional manned crop-dusting, he says.
The pilotless plane belongs to Pyka, where Marotzke works as a flight test engineer.
Based in a converted Second World War hangar overlooking San Francisco Bay, the start-up makes self-flying aircraft without cockpits, designed either to spray crops or deliver cargo.
It is among a small group of companies racing to bring autonomous fixed-wing aircraft into commercial service.
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