We need to stop calling the things we fly drones!

[nhwhelehan]

My personal opinion, and it's only an opinion, is that the word "drone" has a negative impact on the general public. From the (very useful) military drones to the sUAS (-55 lbs) drones, too many people that don't own or fly, but whom we have to deal with while we fly, see the drone as the enemy. And us. On all of my professional papers, cards, website, etc., I use only 3 words and/or phrases when speaking of me or my aircraft: "Quadcopter", "Commercial Remote Pilot", and "Aircraft." Even when approached by bystanders, I refrain from calling my drones "drones." I have yet to have a negative experience with the public. Doesn't mean it won't happen, just that it's been good up until now.

 

[rstyles]

You lost me at flying toy. UFT?

 

[Robert Prior]

In Canada, the legal term is sRPAS "small Remotely Piloted Aircraft System".

 

[jzaner9]

I just call mine a "Versital Camera".
Could also call it an "Unlimited Tripod".
In other words, we are flying cameras.

 

[Don Testme]

Yeah, about the word 'drone' - that horse left the barn over a decade ago.

What should we call them? Their category name is Multi-rotor. Before everyone and their brother started calling them the 'D' word, they were RC Multi-Rotors but I suppose that was too boring and so we ended up being stuck with it. Any discussion I have with clients or the general public, I still use the term Multi-Rotor because that is what it is and can refer to any platform, regardless of numbers of engines.

When I first saw one, when in their infancy, I called them toy helicopters. If we called them Toy Aircraft the masses would likely be less concerned about people flying them nearby.

 

[Ty Pilot]

When I first saw one, when in their infancy, I called them toy helicopters. If we called them Toy Aircraft the masses would likely be less concerned about people flying them nearby.

Yeah in the early days, most RCers (I was one) didn't really get what all the fuss was about until we flew one - er should I say; held the controller while the aircraft did all the work. I kinda felt they were toy-ish at that time too. The gimbal and camera were not yet really in the mix, so the early multi's were just some weird flying machines with a serious set of training wheels - nothing like the photography and videography tool they have become today.

But it was the early multi-rotor pilots (more than 10 years ago) that first started calling them 'drones'. Online forums, Youtube channels, websites and more began to have members with names like 'Drone Captain' - 'Master Droner', 'The Drone Guru' etc; and it seemed everybody that flew them (at that time) felt the word 'drone' separated and possibly elevated their status apart from the RC community.

The inept and sensationalizing media was, and still is, all too happy to oblige them with negative story after negative story until we get to where we are now.

 

[JSmithie]

My gliders aren't drones.




Or are they..

 

[samtex]

My vote is "Friendly Quad-Copter"
It is true when someone hears the word "drone" they think of military hardware. Has anyone done a survey to response what the public responds to the word "drone"
I lile the definition as:
a remote-controlled pilotless --small flying device:
· "a photographer used a drone to take some unconventional photos of the countryside"

 

[BigAl07]

.......Yeah in the early days, most RCers (I was one) didn't really get what all the fuss was about until we flew one - er should I say; held the controller while the aircraft did all the work......

We went from actually "flying" the aircraft to telling the Flight Controller what we wanted to happen and let it do the math/calcs and then issue the commands to the controls (aka motors).

To this day I still fly my planks and helos "coordinated" and find myself doing the same with the MR's even though it's not needed and doesn't add to the performance any what so ever.

 

[SpitFire]

I ask if I can picture with my Sky Cam!!

 

[Gavin_UK]

I ask if I can picture with my Sky Cam!!

I thought about Skycam but rejected it as it could be seen to be associated with the Sky company, and I didn't want to help advertise their services.
I am now using Aircam when talking about mt DJI mini 2, or any pictures/videos produced from it.

 

[karlblessing]

Noticed at Costco they don't call the Mini 2 bundle a drone on the big price sign but rather a areal camera.

 

[Robert Prior]

I thought about Skycam but rejected it as it could be seen to be associated with the Sky company, and I didn't want to help advertise their services.
I am now using Aircam when talking about mt DJI mini 2, or any pictures/videos produced from it.

DJI used FlyCam when advertising the Mavic Mini.

Mavic Mini - DJI

Weighing just 249 grams, Mavic Mini offers a 30-minute flight time, 4km HD video transmission, and a 3-axis gimbal with 2.7K camera. Learn more at DJI.com

www.dji.com

 

[SteveJar1]

Hi everyone, with all the confusion about “drones” recently, I think we need to stop calling them drones and start calling them something else. I know this idea has been thrown around for a long time but no changes have really been made. A drone is any thing from a tiny 1 inch toy from Amazon to a military UAV that is the size of an airplane, costs millions, and kills hundreds if not thousands of people.

I call my Baby's My "Bird's"

 

[kevinmat]

We have to be realistic, the term drone to most implies surveillance and destruction - so why wouldn't people be concerned by thousands of new domestic "drones" invading their space. It's ok to say we need a program of "re-education" but really that's impossible, it's trying to shape mass understanding with no money - it's never going to happen. The further we can take what we fly from the word "drones" the better in my opinion. Easier to embrace a new term than fight with preconceived ideas that carry negative connotations.

The FAA got it right by calling them "unmanned aircraft" rather than drones, I'm not a Part 107 drone pilot, I'm a Part 107 unmanned aircraft systems pilot. Tell that to people and they see it completely differently.

 

[kevinmat]

My vote is for helicopter / quadcopter - that's what they are and if you had never seen one before it's likely what you would call them - just my take

 

[Vic Moss]

The FAA got it right by calling them "unmanned aircraft" rather than drones, I'm not a Part 107 drone pilot, I'm a Part 107 unmanned aircraft systems pilot. Tell that to people and they see it completely differently.

Technically, you're a Remote Pilot.

The FAA uses the terms "drone", "unmanned", "uncrewed", and "remotely piloted" all interchangeably.

Even their portal to all things UAS is called The Drone Zone.

Drone is fine, and fully accepted. It's way too late to try and change that.

 

[millbah]

Does it need fixing ?

 

[Vic Moss]

Does it need fixing ?

Not at all.

 

[eljimb0]

I like "R.C. Camera"