Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Elroy Air, Bristow Fly Autonomous Freighter in Louisiana
Hybrid-electric Chaparral drone makes first uncrewed eIPP flights
Elroy Air Chaparral cargo drone in flight
Elroy Air’s hybrid-electric Chaparral cargo drone, registered N706EA, flies over a residential neighborhood in Louisiana during flights conducted with the Bristow Group under the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.

Heavy-lift cargo drone developer Elroy Air has completed the first uncrewed, autonomous flights conducted under the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), flying its hybrid-electric Chaparral freighter for a week of demonstrations at Houma-Terrebonne Airport (KHUM) in Louisiana in late August.

The Byron, California-based start-up flew the aircraft in collaboration with Bristow Group—a Houston-based offshore helicopter operator and Elroy Air’s launch partner—under Liftoff Louisiana, a state initiative led by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to test electric and autonomous VTOL aircraft.