UK aviation innovation is back: The DomiCopter delivers its first pizza!

If you thought that the UK aviation industry’s best days ended with the Spitfire or the Harrier Jump Jet, think again because Domino’s Pizza in the UK has just carried out the first pizza delivery by drone helicopter!

The “DomiCopter” was developed by Aerosight, a UK based drone specialist that shoots for UK broadcasts, cinema, commercials, independent documentaries and music videos. The video was then posted by T + Biscuits, the creative agency used by the pizza chain’s UK headquarters. So it’s more of a publicity stunt rather than a sign of a new innovative trend in pizza delivery is here.

And while the DomiCopter can reportedly deliver up to two large pizzas over a 6.4 km or 4 mile radius in 10 minutes or less, pizza deliver boys (or girls) need not worry about loosing their jobs just yet as there are a couple of catches with pizza delivery by drone:

1. The first pizza delivery mission was not technically a drone mission as it was controlled by an experienced pilot who was guided by camera (and no doubt earns more than a pizza delivery guy!). Nevertheless, Domino’s did say that GPS coordinates could potentially be used in future pizza delivery flights.
2. There are restrictions or potential restrictions on drone flights depending upon where you live and the regulations aren’t exactly clear or set in stone just yet. In fact and over in the USA, commercial drone flights are illegal until 2015 while most states have rules where drones can only fly up to around 400 feet and must get permission from landowners before entering private property (which could be handled online by checking a box when you order a pizza). That probably means drones would have to stick to flying over public roads rather taking a short cut over your neighbor’s house to land in your backyard.
3. Yahoo! News noted that both the Burrito Bomber and the TacoCopter turned out to be fakes, this video looks like a real publicity stunt!

Yahoo! News also grabbed the following pictures presumably from the above video:

No word on whether you need to tip the DomiCopter or whether you get a free pizza if the weather delays its flight!