Photos by Angelica Ramos
Angelica Ramos
Contributing Writer
CHRISTIANSBURG- Wing Aviation, Virginia Tech Mid Atlantic Aviation Partnership and the Montgomery Museum have partnered in a history exhibit to celebrate aviation in Montgomery County and the firsts in aviation history that happened in our county.
The Montgomery Museum, along with Wing Aviation and Virginia Tech Mid Atlantic Aviation Partnership, hosted an opening for the exhibit on Sept. 26, 2024. This exhibit is also paired with an art show named “Flight.” The art show displayed art based on aviation themes and inspiration made by several local artists. The exhibits are also full of local artifacts based on aviation history in Montgomery County, from pilot’s helmets, to uniforms to a display case honoring the Radford Arsenal’s contribution to aviation history.
In October of 2019, Christiansburg became the first place in the United States to implement drone delivery in partnership with Wing. Christiansburg was the first FAA approved location in the United States for this aviation project. They built “The Nest” in Christiansburg which now hosts about 20 delivery drones. These drones are made mostly of polystyrene, in order to keep them light and aerodynamic, are battery-powered and can carry up to four pounds. With Wing being part of Christiansburg for the past five years, these drones have helped the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and afterward.
“During the pandemic,” Guy Rohling, Managing Director for Albers & Company and Wing representative said, “we helped out the Montgomery County Library System to deliver books and so that was a good thing to do. When we first started, we were delivering burritos on the campus of Virginia Tech, but this was before we rolled out the full commercial operation.”
Rohling explained since Wing had been introduced to Christiansburg, there are families and individuals ordering often. He mentioned a couple, in Christiansburg, who have ordered via Wing 1,000 times now. The Wing drones are not only powered by their own app but are also partnered with Doordash. The Wing drones also deliver from Walmart, local pharmacies, local food and dessert restaurants, the libraries and much more within minutes to Christiansburg residents’ homes within a three-mile radius of The Nest.
Because of Christiansburg being the flagship location for Wing, these services have been made available in Europe and in other towns across the United States like Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. The Montgomery Museum’s exhibit and celebration of this innovation in aviation hosted speeches by Casey Jenkins, the museum’s Executive Director and a Christiansburg Town Council Member, and Rohling discussing “history in the making”, as Jenkins said, being made in Montgomery County.
“All the technology,” Rohling said, “that was developed here, and customer interactions here have been critical to our success elsewhere.”