The Chaparral will be the first vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) cargo system in Bristow’s fleet, which will be used to move time-sensitive cargo for logistics, healthcare and energy applications.
Last year, Bristow Group signed a Letter of Intent to pre-order 100 Chaparral VTOLs.
Dave Stepanek, Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer of Bristow, says, “At Bristow, we're excited to usher in a new era of vertical lift operations and collaborate with Elroy Air to meet the emerging market of express shipping cargo in cities and regions without relying on existing or new airport infrastructure.”
The Chaparral is a lift plus cruise hybrid eVTOL cargo aircraft using conventional turbines and electric propulsion for efficient autonomous operations and longer range.
It has an advanced carbon composite airframe and can be shipped inside a 40-foot container or in an aircraft.
Advanced modular cargo pods are pre-loaded by ground personnel and autonomously retrieved by the aircraft before take off.
At the delivery location, the pods are autonomously lowered to the ground and the aircraft retrieves the next pre-packed pod.