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Zipline operates from distribution centres serving a fixed radius, so coverage is a set of service areas rather than a spread. Inside one the aircraft are routine; outside it there are none.

What it looks like

Airframe

Fixed wing that cruises high, carrying a smaller delivery unit.

The tell

Look for two things, not one. The aircraft stays high and holds there, while a much smaller unit descends beneath it on a line to do the actual delivery. If what you are watching has something coming down well below it, that is a Zip and not a Wing — Wing lowers the package itself from a much lower hover.

Sound

Quieter overhead than a delivery multirotor, because the aircraft stays high; the noise that draws attention is usually the descending unit rather than the aircraft carrying it.

How its broadcast names it

Aircraft sold in the US since September 2023 must broadcast Remote ID in the clear. Part of that broadcast is a serial number in the ANSI/CTA-2063-A format, which begins with a four-character manufacturer code. Every Zipline airframe starts with 1873:

1873501046  →  1873 identifies the maker, the rest is theirs to assign.

That is a property of the standard rather than a guess, so anyone receiving the same broadcast can check it. A Raspberry Pi and two USB adapters are enough to read it yourself.

What one receiver actually recorded

Not enough, here. This receiver has logged no Zipline contacts — too few to say anything honest about how they fly, and more a statement about where this one antenna sits than about the aircraft. The identification above does not depend on that: it is a description of the airframe and of the broadcast standard, and it holds wherever you are.

This section fills in on its own once the record is worth quoting. It is left empty rather than padded, because a typical height drawn from a handful of contacts would look like a finding and be an anecdote.

Watch your own airspace

The receiver is a Raspberry Pi, a Bluetooth adapter and a Wi-Fi adapter. It listens only, transmits nothing, and what it hears stays private to your account unless you choose to share it.

How to build one →  ·  Parts list