Building on a Legacy, Taking New Heights: My Vision for Elroy Air’s Next Chapter
by: Andrew Clare, CEO of Elroy Air
Aviation has always been my passion and inspiration. Born and raised in the “cradle of aviation” in Long Island, NY, I spent countless hours at airports, gazing up at the sky and memorizing the names of different aircraft. In high school, my fascination only grew — so much so that I embarked on an independent research project on supersonic aircraft, driven by a deep desire to understand and push the limits of technology.
That passion led me to MIT, where I studied aeronautical engineering and immersed myself in research that allowed me to innovate at the forefront of aerospace technology. The internships I did at the Army Research Lab working in the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel modeling aeroelastic coupling in tiltrotors, at GE Aviation developing military engine cycle simulations, and at Aurora Flight Sciences building towards an automated air traffic control system for NASA all grew my knowledge and appreciation of the exciting opportunities within aerospace.
Autonomy began to revolutionize aviation during my graduate studies, and I became captivated by its potential. As a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) fellow, my Ph.D. work took me into the field alongside forward-deployed military personnel, where I witnessed firsthand the opportunities and challenges of deploying autonomous UAS. We worked closely with those teams to ensure that what we built wasn’t just innovative — it met soldiers’ needs.
This foundation shaped my journey through leadership roles in automotive and robotics. From advancing innovation and ramping production while leading the Model X vehicle program at Tesla to driving groundbreaking deployments of AI-driven autonomous vehicles as the CTO of Nuro, I’ve had the privilege of scaling technology to meet real customer needs in multiple safety-critical industries.
Today, I’m honored to take on the role of CEO at Elroy Air, a company that has already redefined what’s possible in autonomous aerial logistics. The team here has built something remarkable — pioneering a new category and delivering transformative capabilities for both commercial and defense applications.
My goal is to build on this legacy. We are on a mission to transform logistics with autonomous aircraft that operate safely and efficiently in complex environments — delivering value to our commercial partners and critical solutions to those serving on the front lines.
Coming back to a sector that ignited my career feels like a full-circle moment. The Department of Defense invested in me early on, fueling my passion for aerospace innovation and giving me the tools to think boldly about how technology can support critical missions. We have an amazing opportunity to not only provide capabilities that drive efficiency but that save lives.
At Elroy Air, we’re building middle-mile cargo teleportation. The Chaparral is a powerful tool to load, fly, and unload 300 lbs of cargo up to 300 miles — autonomously. It achieves all this at one-tenth the capital and operational expenses of piloted military helicopters, while also providing the significant safety benefits of autonomous flight with no onboard personnel. This is especially critical in contested logistics environments. Why risk soldiers’ lives to drive or fly cargo when autonomous aircraft can handle the mission?
The three aspects of the Chaparral that immediately resonated with me are its hybrid-electric powertrain, the modular external cargo pod, and the design for rapid global deployment. We were the first to fly a turbogenerator hybrid-electric aircraft in November 2023, which is a major advantage for utilizing existing infrastructure, especially for the military. No need to install chargers, and it provides extended middle-mile range capabilities. The Chaparral autonomously picks up and drops off swappable external cargo pods using onboard sense and compute to optimize unattended ground logistics, and we offer customizable pods for different use cases. Finally, the Chaparral can be stowed inside a standard shipping container and standard military transport aircraft for rapid deployment around the world. Most aircraft with a 300 pound payload capacity don’t offer this deployment flexibility.
The moment is right to grow a business in autonomous aircraft — the core technical challenges can be solved, the supply chain is maturing, defense and commercial customer demand is growing, and the regulatory frameworks are coming into place to integrate UAS into the airspace safely. Our C1 aircraft has been flying successfully with an increasing operational tempo. We recently demonstrated its capabilities, including a 300 pound vertical lift flight and multiple fully autonomous flights, for the U.S. Marines at the Yuma Proving Ground. And we’re in a number of active discussions to partner with manufacturers to scale production to meet strong customer demand while maintaining high capital efficiency.
The sky is not the limit — it’s just the beginning. We are tackling the $8B defense aerial logistics market, the $4B humanitarian logistics market, and the $160B medium range commercial logistics market. As we embark on this next phase, I’m excited to partner with our customers, collaborate with industry leaders, and push the boundaries of what autonomous aviation can achieve. The journey ahead is ambitious, but I’m confident that together we will take Elroy Air to even greater heights.
Thank you to the entire Elroy Air team and our customers, partners, and investors for welcoming me on board. The work we do here will shape the future of logistics and autonomy, and I couldn’t be more honored to lead us forward.
Let’s fly.
