http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/ Engadget Comments for Pilotless airplane! Drone! Drone! http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 4:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 4:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 4:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
]]>Jan 27th 2007 4:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
Hmm... according to the Collins Dictionary you're half right and half wrong:

http://www.collins.co.uk/wordexchange/Sections/DicSrchRsult.aspx?word=drone

drone

1. a male bee in a colony of social bees, whose sole function is to mate with the queen
2. Brit a person who lives off the work of others
3. a pilotless radio-controlled aircraft

I think the real problem is our definition of "pilotless". In this case, it means the absence of a pilot on the aircraft. So the man on the phone has a point, but we all know that it was a pointless phone call.

But you know what this means? All RC model aircrafts are drones too.]]>Jan 27th 2007 8:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 4:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 4:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/ Other craft are true drones and fly their entire mission without human interaction. The irate caller isn't wrong just a bit uptight. The problem comes from the talking heads on TV calling all UAVs "drones". The predator variant shown is most likely a UAV of the remotely piloted kind so it is not a drone.
Bottom line is do you accept 'common usage' i.e. the great killer of grammar, or do you waste half your day correcting people. ]]>Jan 27th 2007 4:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/"...delivered the 200th QF-4 drone this spring to Tyndall AFB, Fla., where it will be flown as a remote-controlled aerial target."
Note how the DRONE is REMOTE-CONTROLLED.]]>Jan 27th 2007 7:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
:D:D:D]]>Jan 27th 2007 4:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 5:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 5:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 5:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 30th 2007 1:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 28th 2007 7:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 6:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 6:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Control freak.]]>Jan 27th 2007 6:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 7:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 7:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 7:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/]]>Jan 27th 2007 7:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
Is it starting to sink into your thick skull?]]>Jan 27th 2007 8:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 9:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
"Unmanned" Aerial Vehicles was a term coined by journalists who found the military term unwieldy.

As for whether or not "pilotless drone" is a correct term -- the Air Force would seem to think so, as target drones, such as the QF-4 or QF-106, when flown unmanned (yes, they can be piloted from the cockpit for non-live-fire flights) are termed NULLO (not under live, local operator).]]>Jan 27th 2007 9:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
Is it because of the monotonous noise that it makes in the air? It is because it lives off the labors of others? Or is it because it has similarities to that of a worker bee? If you were to go back to the definition prior to it being commonly known as an unmanned aircraft, then it might not be considered all that wrong to say "pilotless drone". ]]>Jan 27th 2007 9:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 10:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://rattattree.com/djpalmtree/lexan-mr_howe.mp3

the remix :(]]>Jan 27th 2007 10:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.whooptones.com

I made a "Pad" of this... couldn't help myself. It's the featured pad... Check it out. :)]]>Jan 27th 2007 10:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 27th 2007 11:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
You spelled "inane" wrong, and your last sentence is grammatically incorrect.]]>Feb 2nd 2007 10:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jh47UQYQFk

Teh Remix!]]>Jan 28th 2007 12:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
We're not designed to shoulder that kind of stress ongoing, which he seemingly has.]]>Jan 28th 2007 7:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
http://rapidshare.com/files/13787078/Pilot_Your_Own_Drone.mp3.html]]>Jan 28th 2007 9:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
http://rapidshare.com/files/13788090/Pilot_Your_Own_Drone.mp3.html]]>Jan 28th 2007 9:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1b4261]]>Jan 28th 2007 1:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 28th 2007 1:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
If you weren't asking me, I got my hopes up =(]]>Jan 28th 2007 9:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/
http://pages.emerson.edu/students/j/james_sturges/droneremix.mp3]]>Jan 29th 2007 4:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/27/pilotless_airplane/Jan 30th 2007 1:29PM