One thing I hear all the time is the question: "Is that a drone?"

The short answer is "no".

Nothing makes a person sound more ignorant, than a lack of proper vocabulary and an inability to communicate correctly.
Even among hobbyists whom are otherwise quite bright and articulate, some still get a bit tangled up in our terminology.

So I thought; "Hey, why not write a dictionary?" It could help everyone discuss our hobby, including outsiders and the un-initiated.

If you spot errors, I'm certainly willing to correct it.

We'll start with the broadest terms and work our way down to the most specific, then address the issue at hand.




Broad Terms, could refer to Planes, Copters Gliders, etc...:

RPV
A remotely piloted vehicle. The Air Force and other agencies frequently use this term to refer to unmanned machines, controlled far from the actual device. It could be a deep sea sub, an aircraft in the stratosphere or a rock crawler on a beach.

UAV
This catch-all phrase stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The USAF and other agencies use this term to describe anything that flies without people in it. It may fly a programmed course, or be remotely piloted. It's application is as wide as your imagination.

sUAS
This acronym represents Small Unmanned Aerial System. Generally speaking, this is something that flies that's to small for people to fly in any ways. sUAS are also UAV's. The AMA [Academy of Model Aeronautics] uses the sUAS term frequently....Continue Reading