Windracers, the UK-based manufacturer of self-flying aircraft and avionics, was founded to help humanitarian agencies get essential supplies to remote communities during emergencies and disasters.
The company’s ULTRA MK2 aircraft, a low cost, self-flying, fixed wing cargo plane, will be used by Aviation Sans Frontieres this year to deliver supplies for humanitarian organisations in Africa. With a payload of over 100kg and a range of 1,000 km, ULTRA has flown reconnaissance and resupply in Ukraine, geological and wildlife surveying in Antarctica, parcel delivery off the Scottish and English coasts, wildfire missions, and dropped medical supplies by parachute.
Windracers believes that the craft is also ideally placed to help achieve its commercial ambition to be “the best value end-to-end cargo drone solution in the market”.
Group Chief Executive Officer Simon Thompson explains how Windracers balances its humanitarian purpose with its commercial objectives, on this episode of The Purposeful Strategist.
As CEO of Windracers Group, Simon focuses on design, product R&D, fundraising, strategic partnerships and global growth of the company. Simon was CEO of Royal Mail and has held senior leadership roles across multiple industries in global companies such as Apple, Honda, HSBC and Motorola.
Windracers was conceived to provide essential logistical support to humanitarian agencies looking to sustain communities through emergencies where transportation links are poor. Their solution was designed to provide a robust, cost-effective alternative to expensive, crewed aviation for reaching local and remote villages quickly and effectively.
The Windracers system – aircraft, software and operational services - has emerged at the forefront of uncrewed, autonomous aviation and its application and utility for middle-mile logistics is relevant to a wide range of sectors and situations.
Simon Thompson in front of Ultra MK2