An enlightening meeting for me, in that l was surprised by the way that Apian had approached the task. Surely they would have been better informed by starting with visits to the affected sites before coming up with the proposed TDA. I found myself wondering if the aviation side being led by ex military ATC folk showed a lack of understanding of the implications for GA. What l also found telling ,was that one of the attendees who was a commercial drone operator seemed to be able to carry out his work without massive disruption to other airspace users. I also wondered if the Americans who were present had a real depth of understanding of the UK,s environment both operationally and practically. There seemed to me, a major problem with the way that the CAAs oversight of the project would be controlled, anyone with experience knows that the Notam system is both unwieldily and impractical to use in so many ways and dealing with the Authority can be challenging at the best of times!
Another major concern for the general public was the inability of the project leaders to quantify the actual costs of the project. There was lots of talk about the need to use taxis for urgent deliveries and how costly that was but l cannot believe that drones and the significant team to operate them 24/7 would provide a more effective solution. It was interesting to note that in one of the videos supporting the project , a nurse was saying how much quicker she could get her required medications delivered by drone but didn't, mention that the samples that determined the need would presumably have to go by surface transport to the test facility beforehand?? To sum up, l found myself wondering if this is a very expensive "Bigstick" to crack the nut in times when we are constantly being told by the politicians and the press that the Health Service is desperate for funds.