North Dakota’s 125lb Drone Flies All Day | John Ibele

In this episode of Hangar X Studios, host John Ramstead sits down with John Ibele, co-founder of Meadowlark Aircraft Manufacturing, to explore the future of American-made drones. With decades of experience in high-volume manufacturing at Seagate, Ibele shares how lessons from producing millions of disk drive components in Asia can be applied to building drones right here in the U.S. The conversation spans topics like design for manufacturing (DFM), the advantages of domestic production, the challenges of scaling drone manufacturing, and the ambitious vision behind Meadowlark’s flagship fixed-wing VTOL drone, the FH125 “Strix.” This episode is a fascinating look at how North Dakota is emerging as a hub for aerospace innovation, and how entrepreneurs like Ibele are determined to strengthen America’s manufacturing resilience in the drone industry. Episode Highlights Why much of America’s high-volume manufacturing shifted overseas—and how to bring it back. Meadowlark Aircraft Manufacturing’s origin story and bold vision. Insights into design for manufacturing (DFM) and how it drives product and process decisions. The FH125 “Strix”: a fixed-wing VTOL designed for precision agriculture, wildlife management, fire and rescue, and perimeter security. Managing massive data collection from drones with edge computing and transmission strategies. Why North Dakota is the right place to launch a drone manufacturing company. Key Points with Timestamps [00:00:00] John Ibele on U.S. manufacturing: too often high-volume production defaults overseas, but domestic advantages are being rediscovered. [00:00:58] Host John Ramstead introduces the sponsor (XTI Aerospace) and welcomes listeners to the live recording at The Hive, Grand Forks. [00:02:42] Ibele shares how his partnership with Ned Tabet and background at Seagate led to founding Meadowlark. [00:03:50] Introduction of the FH125 “Strix”—a fixed-wing VTOL drone with a 16-foot wingspan designed for all-day endurance.