Droning on…The topic of air cargo drones has been much in the news lately what with Amazon’s CEO saying that the Internet retailing giant is aiming to use the unmanned devices to deliver packages in the near future. And more recently the CEO for air cargo drone company, Matternet, caused a stir at the IATA World Cargo Symposium when he flew a drone in front of the audience in the ballroom of the Hyatt hotel in Los Angeles this past March.

But the idea faces numerous hurdles, not least of all technical issues and regulatory approval. But in our favourite gun-toting, Wild West world of the USofA there is a much bigger threat lurking… rednecks with guns! But at least in Deer Trail, a town in Colorado, the little package toting drones are safe after the town voted not to issue ‘drone hunting licences’. Although, with a population of only 540 people, that’s not much of safe fly zone.

The proposal to issue such licenses, which noted that a 1964 Supreme Court judgment states that a property extends 1,000ft (304 metres) into the airspace above it, suggested charging US$25 for a licence to shoot drones down. It even included a provision for a bounty of as much as $100 for shooting down a government-marked one. It has occurred to us here at Belly Ache Central that it probably was a good thing the proposal didn’t go ahead – just think about it for a minute – while the Amazon drones might be easy pickin’s, the government ones would likely shoot back! Guess it’s back to the ‘deer trail’ for these guntotin’ folks.

At any rate, while the devices seem to have a potential in the cargo realm, particularly in places where surface transport is difficult or nonexistent, as well as being useful for reducing carbon footprints of road-based delivery services, for now they remain the stuff of boy-toy fascination (although not quite at the level of guns!)… and of course humour. Here’s a selection of some of the Belly Acher’s favourite delivery drone cartoons… enjoy!