More than 100 people packed into the Centennial Center in Veterans Park Tuesday night to ask Manna Air Delivery representatives about their company’s drone deliveries and its impact on noise, privacy and wildlife.
Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, and Tulsa District 4 Councilor Laura Bellis, led the town hall, gathering questions for Manna CEO Bobby Healy from the audience. Here are five takeaways based on Healy’s answers to Tulsans’ questions.
Manna has requested to build six drone hubs in Tulsa
While Manna representatives previously filed permits to build its first drone hub on Cherry Street, Healy said the company is now seeking permission to build at five other locations.
“Cherry Street is the only location we’re ready to go with. We filed for permits for five other locations. Off the top of my head, I don’t know them, but we’d be happy to share them with folks. No problem there,” he said.
The Flyer contacted Manna asking for the locations of those five additional drone hubs but has yet to hear back. A City of Tulsa spokesperson told the Flyer Wednesday the permits department is not aware of any new applications.
Healy said Manna hopes to build “20, maybe 30” drone hubs across Tulsa and Broken Arrow where he lives.
“We don’t fully know the end state, but we think about 20 bases, split across, spread evenly across the whole city — and those 20 bases operating anywhere from 60 to 90 drones,” Healy said. “Might be more, might be less. I truly don’t know, but I mean, there’s not going to be a base every 100 yards.
“That’s including Broken Arrow. I want the service to my house,” he added.
That number is down from Healy’s previous estimates. On July 8, he said he expected up to 40 drone hubs installed across Tulsa in the next 12 months. On that same day, Kenny Jacobs, Manna’s executive chairman and president, also alluded to building 40 drone hubs in Tulsa.
“We’ll be here, but you will be the center of the world, and it will grow from here. So, we want 40 bases quickly. We want over 90% coverage of the Tulsa population. We want to be delivering everything,” Jacobs said.
Manna’s drones do not record
Healy told the crowd the drones are equipped with small, low-resolution cameras, but the cameras do not “switch on” until they are near the delivery area, and they do not record.
“The purpose of that camera is to check the delivery area… So, we switch that camera on only when we get to that 50 feet above the area where we’re delivering,” he said.
He said a drone “might fly over your house,” but he assured the audience “the camera is not switched on there. It doesn’t record.”
Drone deliveries won’t run overnight
Healy said Manna is planning to eventually operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but not when drone deliveries first begin in Tulsa.
“(We’ll) probably start off just four days a week, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m,” Healy said. “I mean, we’ve been doing this a long time, we’ve never needed to fly past 9 p.m., and then never really needed to fly before 9 a.m.”
Manna drones will not be used for defense or war
Healy told Bellis his company has no plans to eventually use or provide its drone technology for military purposes. This is a question some have posed on the Flyer’s social media.
“Categorically not,” Healy said. “Neither do we have the intention, nor is our system or aircraft any use for the military.”
Manna is already testing drone flights in Tulsa
Healy encouraged folks at the town hall to visit Skyway Range, a drone port north of downtown Tulsa on West 36th Street North, to see how Manna’s drone deliveries look and sound.
“If anyone’s really keen, I would encourage you to contact your representatives, and they can arrange a trip out to Skyway Range,” he said. “We’d be delighted to show you. We’re very confident that you’re going to see this or hear this thing and say this won’t be an issue for me. At least, we think we’re confident enough to say that, and we’re not hiding anything.”
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