Follow Up with Parallel Flight Technologies Founder Joshua Resnick

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Parallel Flight Technologies. We’re building industrial grade drones using patent-pending Parallel Hybrid technology that will allow our drones to carry heavy payloads for over two hours. Our technology is ideal for use in fighting wildfires, search and rescue, healthcare, and other mission-critical logistics applications.

Parallel Flight Technologies has received SBIR grants from NASA, the NSF, and most recently, the USDA. The USDA grant has provided us with funding to begin developing a large-scale unmanned system for controlled ignition, to be used by the US Forest Service. The Forest Service is a branch of the USDA, and controlled burns are a key land management tool they use for removing combustible fuels and preventing wildfires.

A controlled burn is an intentional fire that is ignited for land management purposes, such as to reduce flammable fuels on the forest floor. They are also used for fighting active wildfires by creating fire breaks. The US spends hundreds of millions each year on controlled burns because they are a key tool in preventing wildfires. Several pilots have tragically died over the years in these missions, so the agencies are beginning to use drones — but they need aircraft with larger payloads and longer flight times. Parallel Flight Technologies is working closely with the unmanned systems team in the Forest Service and with Drone Amplified — a payload manufacturer and leader in the controlled burn space — to develop solutions for these firefighting applications.

We’re developing solutions for mission-critical logistics operations across a variety of industries, including firefighting, industrial logistics and healthcare. 

For firefighting, our unmanned systems will help firefighters in the field by delivering critical supplies such as tools, fuel, food and water. Unlike helicopters, our aircraft can navigate zero visibility situations to fly in heavy smoke and at night. We are developing a solution for spot fire suppression — enabling our drones to locate and drop water directly onto spot fires when manned aircraft are grounded. 

We will also provide heavy lift and long range beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) applications across multiple industrial logistics verticals. Our product and services will provide advanced solutions for infrastructure, renewable energy, construction, environmental protection and remote logistics. 

For healthcare logistics, our heavy lift, long duration solution is ideal for delivery of critical medication, vaccines, medical equipment, biospecimens and defibrillators. Using smart logistics technology, we’ll be able to launch our drones from customizable hubs, providing deliveries to even the most remote and rural locations. Our technology can also be utilized for disaster relief efforts, delivering vital supplies in crisis situations.

We are partnered with Drone Amplified, the inventor of the IGNIS fire ignition management system for drones. IGNIS is a complete system that integrates with drones and carries a payload of chemical spheres. These spheres are ignited on command, sparking prescribed fires in the exact area where the sphere is dropped. We’re proud to work with the Drone Amplified team to integrate their innovative technology with our product.

We’re also working closely with our early customers to co-develop customized solutions for various applications. We utilize their expertise to ensure our drones are the ideal solution for their unmanned system needs.

We’re currently constructing our beta-level aircraft, which is Parallel Flight Technologies’ first production-intent aircraft. We’re on track to begin flight testing at the end of this year and will move into commercialization in 2021 when we deliver the drones to our first customers.

Since we last spoke, we have hired an additional mechanical engineer with a strong background in industrial design, composites and aerodynamics. We also hired a communications lead, business projects manager and promoted a former student intern to an electrical engineering role. Within the next few months, we’ll be bringing on a drone pilot to facilitate flight testing of our beta aircraft.