In September 2020, FedEx tested a unique air cargo carrier – a single-propeller Cessna 127 Skyhawk capable of flying completely autonomously from gate to gate.   Though technically a 4-passenger fixed wing aircraft, just like others FedEx deploys to make deliveries, this one didn’t have a pilot.  Thanks to Reliable Robotics, a technology firm founded by former Tesla and SpaceX employees, which retrofitted the Skyhawk with advanced avionics, the plane taxied, took off and flew on its own before landing successfully on an airstrip.  FedEx then repeated the trials with a Cessna 208 Caravan, showing the same feat could be performed successfully with a much larger cargo aircraft.

It’s taken three years, but FedEx and Reliable Robotics have finally made it to the big time.  Earlier this year, the FAA decided to take a closer look at the Cessna 208’s performance during a series of week-long trials and simulations.  Three separate FAA-sponsored tests were conducted at Reliable Robotics’ Mountain View, CA test facility in August.  It’s all part of the FAA’s increased focus on testing various modalities for integrating unmanned and manned aircraft into common airspace – in this case, airspace designated as Class B, the area around the nation’s busiest airports where technical performance and safety considerations are [paramount..

By all accounts, it was an eye-opening experience for the FAA – and a huge boon to Reliable’s commercial prospects.  The tests and simulations demonstrated the company’s ability to reroute the Cessna, changing speeds virtually at will, avoiding potential obstacles, and to do so under variable weather conditions including heavy winds and rain.  Reliable shared aircraft telemetry data from the company’s control center with the FAA’s NextGen Integration and Evaluation Capability research lab.  An onboard test pilot also observed each flight. It was the most comprehensive test to date of the Cessna 208’s airworthiness and will likely lead rather soon to FAA “type” certification, allowing more real world flight testing to begin.

“Collaborating with the FAA on demonstrations like this will help enable the future of mobility and the evolution of our airspace to accommodate new aircraft systems,” said Davis Hackenberg, vice president of government partnerships at Reliable after the tests. “Watching our system successfully operate in a live test environment is exciting, and we are proud to help pave the way for future integration of large uncrewed aircraft.”

In fact, it’s not just commercial cargo carriers that are eagerly awaiting the Cessna’s future certification.  The US Air Force and NASA are also heavily invested in the aircraft’s success  So far, USAF has provided two separate pipelines of funding to Reliable to test the Cessna 208’s automation as part of its own large multi-purpose jet program.  NASA, meanwhile, is using the Cessna – including the smaller 127 Skyhawk – to test the tracking capabilities of its primary surveillance radar.  While no one is saying so openly, it seems clear that the two Cessnas, while primarily slated for commercial use, could have additional applications as military cargo and troop transport vehicles in both training and active combat scenarios.

Given such high-level interest, the FAA will likely fast-track the Cessna’s type certification as well as its subsequent regulatory reviews, industry observers say. In fact, since the Cessna is already an FAA-approved manned cargo aircraft which is simply being retrofitted, no special waivers or exemptions may even be needed, which is typically the case with new drone designs.  Once the Cessna receives its type certification, Reliable will likely seek FAA approval for its deployment across the entire coterminous U.S. (plus Alaska), without having to bargain over cumbersome technical performance, visual observation and safety issues that normally limit a new aircraft’s scope of operations.

Which means the Cessna 208 could very well be the first large-scale air cargo drone of any kind to see active service as a dual-purpose civilian and military vehicle – possibly by early 2025.