AIR PIXELSAIR PIXELSQUARTERLY
A 9 × 12 inch print journal of original research and stories on the drone industry, from the team behind the Drone Delivery Tracker, the Comparison Engine and the Shot Database. Four issues a year. Free to read here two weeks after each issue mails. Included with Pro.
01 · Preflight
The quarter in numbers.
What Air Pixels tracked this quarter, as of 2026-10-26. Every figure links to the tool it came from.
Letter from the editor
Why print, why now.
Air Pixels has spent a year publishing live data on the drone industry. The web is where that data lives and updates. This is where it gets read slowly: one underwritten research feature, one pilot's portfolio, one bench test, the regulation log, dated. Sources on every page.
Full letter publishes Mar 23
02 · The Log
Dated. Sourced. Kept.
Regulation and delivery events as they happen, from the Delivery Tracker log. Print carries the quarter; this page carries this week.
- 2026-10-22RuleWorcester, MAMassDOT tells Amazon its Westborough drone pad needs a state certificate; residents form Mass Blue Skies
- 2026-10-21LaunchCharlotte, NCWalmart's 30-minute drone delivery with Wing expands to the Charlotte metro
- 2026-10-20RuleWorcester, MAWestborough votes 510–13 for a bylaw banning commercial drone launch pads and drop zones
- 2026-10-20LaunchHouston, TXZipline now flies four zones in northwest Houston, Cypress and Tomball
- 2026-10-05LaunchSeattle · DenverWing and Walmart add Seattle and Denver to the nation's largest drone delivery network
- 2026-09-28RuleNationalMassachusetts, 14 other states and Harris County, Texas sue over the FAA's nationwide environmental review of drone delivery
Explainer · Part 108 · RIN 2120-AL82
Beyond visual line of sight, step by step.
The BVLOS rule has been at the White House since July. The FAA hopes to publish by the end of 2026; an effective date typically follows 30–60 days later.
- 2025-08-07Proposal published
- 2025-10-06Comments closed3,000+ comments
- 2026-02-11Right-of-way comments closed
- 2026-07-10At White House reviewOIRA
- —Final rule publishedFAA hopes by end of 2026
- —Effective dateTypically 30–60 days later
03 · Data · Underwritten research
Where the drones deliver.
The first printed map of U.S. drone delivery: every site named by an operator or the FAA, placed at town-center coordinates, counted by metro and operator. The full table ships as CSV with the issue.
Metros by delivery site
| Metro | Sites | Live | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas–Fort Worth | 4 | 4 | Amazon · Wing · Zipline · Flytrex |
| Detroit | 4 | 2 | Amazon |
| Houston | 3 | 3 | Amazon · Wing · Zipline |
| Phoenix | 3 | 2 | Amazon · Wing · Zipline |
| Tampa | 3 | 1 | Amazon · Wing |
| Austin | 3 | 0 | Amazon · Zipline |
| Miami | 3 | 0 | Amazon · Wing |
| Cleveland | 2 | 2 | Amazon · Zipline |
Operators
| Operator | Sites | Live | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Prime Air | 29 | 13 | MK30 |
| Wing | 19 | 5 | Wing aircraft |
| Zipline | 6 | 5 | Platform 2 |
| Flytrex | 1 | 1 | Flytrex |
| Manna | 1 | 0 | Manna |
| DoorDash Air | 1 | 0 | DoorDash Air |
Underwrite this feature
One research sponsor funds the fieldwork for each Data feature and is named on the page and here. Sponsors see the feature when readers do: no copy, data or conclusions before press. No. 01 is open; $10,000, credited toward a Market Research Custom Study.04 · Working
The 400-foot workday.
One Part 107 pilot's quarter from the logbook, and the first Air Pixels pilot survey: what a flight pays, by sector and metro.
Profile · in progress
Fifty-two flights, eleven clients, one quarter.
A Dallas–Fort Worth pilot opens the logbook: what got booked, what got weathered out, and what each sortie paid. Interview and photographs by community members. Names TBD
Interview Dec · prints pp. 38–43
The survey · open until Dec 19
What a flight pays.
Ten questions, four minutes, anonymous. Medians by sector and metro print with sample sizes. Illustrative values below until the survey closes.
Illustrative Replaced by survey medians and n per bar.
05 · Frame
Scanning Silverstone.
F1 photographed its circuits twice: by helicopter for the racing, and by drone, more than 13,000 frames at Silverstone alone, for the VFX that stitched the film together. Where drones fit in a modern aerial plan.
Feature · commissioned
The racing was flown by helicopter. The circuits were flown by drone.
Clear Angle Studios flew DJI Matrice 600 Pro and Matrice 350 RTK aircraft over every featured circuit, photographing them for the photogrammetry that let the VFX team rebuild each track. The opening aerial was an AS355 Twin Squirrel with a Shotover F1 and a Sony Venice 2.
Writer TBD · prints pp. 50–57
From the database · record 1 of 102
- Title
- F1 (2025) · Film
- Studio
- Apple Original Films / Warner Bros.
- Dir · DP
- Joseph Kosinski · Claudio Miranda
- Rig
- Photogrammetry
- Kit
- DJI Matrice 600 Pro · DJI Matrice 350 RTK
- Operator
- Clear Angle Studios (scanning)
- Confidence
- BTS confirmed
The database by rig
06 · Portfolio
One pilot, twelve pages.
Each issue hands the Portfolio section to one Air Pixels pilot: twelve pages, their edit, their captions. Every frame prints with its flight data.
Open call · No. 01
Pro members: send twelve frames.
- 12–20 frames, RAW files and the flight log
- One pilot chosen by the editors
- $1,500 fee plus a year of Pro
- Licensed for one issue and the web edition
- Call opens at the Nov 30 mixer; closes Dec 19
07 · Bench
Rated vs. real.
Every spec sheet lists a wind limit. We take eight airframes from the Comparison Engine to the same airfield on the same 25-knot afternoon and log how long each holds position at 100 ft AGL.
| Airframe | Weight | Rated wind | Held | Rated time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJI Mavic 4 Pro | 1,063 g | 12 m/s (27 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 51 min | $2,699 |
| DJI Air 3S | 724 g | 12 m/s (27 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 45 min | $1,099 |
| DJI Mini 4 Pro * | 249 g | 10.7 m/s (24 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 34 min | $759 |
| DJI Avata 2 * | 377 g | 10.7 m/s (24 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 23 min | $999 |
| DJI Matrice 4E * | 1,219 g | 12 m/s (27 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 49 min | $4,799 |
| DJI Inspire 3 * | 3,995 g | 14 m/s (31 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 28 min | $16,499 |
| Autel EVO II Pro V3 | 1,191 g | 12 m/s (27 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 40 min | $2,099 |
| Parrot Anafi USA * | 500 g | 14.7 m/s (33 mph) | — Jan 2027 | 32 min | $7,000 |
Rated figures from manufacturer spec sheets as recorded in the Comparison Engine; * marks an estimated field pending a source check. "Held" is measured in January 2027.
Protocol
Same field, same two hours.
- Wind logged at 100 ft AGL by a tethered Kestrel 5500 every 10 s.
- Each airframe hovers at 100 ft for 5 minutes in GPS mode, stick-free.
- A hold fails at 3 m of drift, a high-wind warning or an automatic landing.
- Three runs per aircraft; the median prints.
What this is not
Not a review, not sponsored, not a safety limit. Member-owned aircraft, no manufacturer loans, no scores. Fly to the spec sheet and the conditions in front of you.
08 · Lab
Experiments and patents.
What Air Pixels is building and filing, as a ledger: what is running, what is filed, what is next.
Hardware
Homeport
A marked, solar-powered, signal-boosting landing pad. S1 pre-orders open in 2027; X2 with RTK, relay antennas and de-ice follows.
Seven layers, explained →
Network
Flock
A token-incentivized data network for drone observations, where no one holds a special seat.
Read the protocol →
Vision
Scan-to-BIM
Classifies ground, buildings and vegetation in drone point clouds and measures every structure on a site.
See the engine →
Framework
Proof of Flight
An open framework and ledger for verifiable drone flight records.
Explore the ledger →
09 · Floor
The mixer, the hiring floor, the directory.
The Monthly Pilot Mixer runs the last Monday of every month at 6:30 PM Pacific, free with RSVP. Each issue launches on stage.
Subscribe
Print is the paid tier.
Every story is free here two weeks after each issue mails. The paper copy, the PDF edition and early access are what you pay for, or what Pro already includes.
Single issue
No. 01 · Spring 2027
- 96 pages, 9 × 12 in, perfect bound
- Ships the week of Mar 9
- Back issues stay in the Supply shop
Annual
Four issues
- No. 01–04, mailed as they print
- PDF edition the day each issue mails
- Portfolio and survey calls first
Pro members
Included
- Every issue, mailed and as PDF
- Eligible for Portfolio and the survey
- Pilots Lounge, mixer recordings, Flight OS Pro
Web edition
Get each issue by email when it goes free.
One email per issue plus six weekly excerpts. No other mail.
Partners & sponsors
Pages, not coverage.
Partner pages are at most 10% of the book, labeled, designed by us in the house style, and never adjacent to a Bench test of the same brand. Sponsors fund research and see it when readers do. The policy prints in every issue.
- Partner pageFull page, 9 × 12, set in the house style from your brief. Six per issue.$3,000
- Covers 2–4Inside front, inside back and back cover. One partner each.$5,000
- Research sponsorUnderwrite the Data feature: named on the page, the web edition and the CSV. One per issue. Credited toward a Market Research Custom Study.$10,000
- Mixer + issue bundlePresenting partner of the launch mixer plus one partner page.$4,500
Rate card for No. 01–02; prices in USD. Press date for each issue is confirmed when the sponsor and four partner pages are booked.