Italy’s FlyingBasket takes its FB3 heavy-lift drone to market

Italian enterprise UAV developer FlyingBasket has announced the biggest development in its seven-year existence with the commercialization of its FB3 heavy-lift drone, which is capable of hauling payloads of up to 100 kilograms in remote mountain settings and populated urban zones alike.

Headquartered in Italy’s South Tyrol city of Bolzano, FlyingBasket released its FB3 drone for sale this month following years of development with stakeholders, potential clients, and industrial backers from a variety of industries requiring heavy-lift resources. The result is the startup’s first major craft commercialization for large equipment hauling, logistics work, and delivery purposes.

The road to the FB3’s launch was a long, very busy, but ultimately successful one. 

FlyingBasket was founding in 2015 by Moritz and Matthias Moroder during a leisure hike in the Dolomites, where they happened to spot a helicopter making supply deliveries to mountain refuge. 

Certain there had to be a more economical and environmentally friendly option to traditional aircraft using their enormous hauling capacities for large yet limited-sized payloads, the pair went to work building, and exhaustively testing various iterations of drones designed for heavy-lift operation. 

Ensuing development and testing of craft took FlyingBasket engineers from simulation centers to mountain and forest settings, and finally to a trial of postal deliveries over populated sections of Turin. 

In addition to the successful results and positive feedback FlyingBasket received during those drone transport tests, the startup got a major lift last June in the form of a direct equity stake by Italian aviation and defense giant Leonardo ­– a longtime industrial partner and FB3 heavy-lift backer.

The apparent effects of the increased funding provided – and access to Leonardo’s vast array of aeronautical development, manufacturing, and testing assets – have been quick in materializing, with FlyingBasket moving its FB3 heavy-lift prototype from the finishing process to sales launch in a mere four months.

“The FB3 commercial availability is another milestone in the roadmap of FlyingBasket, who continuously commit to innovation, safety, and excellence within the drone industry,” says company CEO Moritz Moroder. “It represents a significant leap forward in cargo transportation possibilities. We are excited about the potential it holds for various industries.”

Weighing in at 70 lbs. and measuring 1600 mm x1600mm x 412 mm, the FB3 can reach speeds of 30m/s, and boasts distance/payload capacities of 2.5 km. while hauling 100 kg., and up to 25 km. toting five kg. Its operational temperature range runs from -10°C to +45, reflecting the diverse climate, geological, atmospheric, and industrial application variables FlyingBasket built it to withstand.