Originally Posted by
astrohog
Yes. You FINALLY get it, although you continue to use different terminology for models, drones, MR where it fits your agenda for that day. Once again, I will clarify what I call a drone vs. what I call a model. It's very simple, really:
DRONE=any craft (fixed-wing, rotary wing, MR) that has BLOS and/or autonomous flight capabilities.
"TRADITIONAL" model=RC or free-flight aircraft (fixed-wing, rotary-wing, turbine powered, MR, etc) that does NOT have the inherent capability to sustain BLOS and/or autonomous flight capabilitrs.
Yes, Before you start splitting hairs and bring up control line and RC "flyaways", I am fully aware that I may not have covered every scenario, but I am not submitting to Websters Dictionary.
With that being said, I believe it was the drones and their BLOS, autonomous flight capabilities that caused the FAA to take notice and start to regulate our activities.
Astro
At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what you or I call our flying machines, big brother calls them one thing now. I'm not splitting hairs when I say that Trappy was flying a fixed wing aircraft, and that kicked off the FAA's heightened scrutiny of this hobby. Was there another case before that you are aware of? The technology involved in the flight wasn't the issue, it was the way he was flying. Did the charges from the FAA say anything about the technology involved in the flights, or did they focus on the flights themselves? The answer of course debunks the theory it was MR. I get that folks want to blame them for every perceived ill that has allegedly befallen the hobby, but it's just not the case, imo. Pilots were the cause, then technology.