Unseen, cover your ears... I don't want you to hate me for considering this lol... 

I am thinking about starting to describe my hobby as "flying racing drones" to those who are not in the hobby. This is because I try to tell folks who don't know what we do about it and when I say "I fly RC Quadcopters" they look at me like huh? and then they ask if I said I have a helicopter. 

The problem is, philosophically I have never liked the "D word" to describe quadcopters. I don't exactly think that the word "quadcopter" inspires much in the way of coolness either though lol. I am already a nerdy guy and my colleagues and friends know it so the fact that I am using the technical description is normal to them, but it would make the conversation go so much smoother. 

Couldn't we just come up with a better pet name for these things that doesn't inspire visions of violent military overreach.

Throw one in your backpack and say "I fly this - and I do it by looking through this camera!"

lol, thats one way to do it!

I talked about it at work to the new guy and after seeing my fpv video he responded "Isn't that super easy to fly? With the auto leveling and such?"

I just said "no" I have little ways to explain the skill required to someone who doesn't know quadcopters. Already gave up on calling them quadcopters. They only understand "drone" and when I say that, they imagine childrens toys. Not a quadcopter that can rip your face off.

Even my friend who's seen it up close in action and tested it (to see if he could make it hover) was wondering if it could cut grass and flowers when flying close enough. I'm of a mind to tell the next guy to put his finger in.. Just joking.. We can but dream..

I'm with ya Carl..."Drone" implies autonomy and with these things, nothing could be further from the truth.   When I am asked,  I just say it's multi-rotor aircraft......not very imaginative, but better then "Drone" (IMHO).

Maybe a contest or poll to rename our toys? I kind of like the "visions of violent military overreach"

Actually, if we could come up with a blanket term for FPV flying other than the initials FPV that would probably do best. I think flying LOS is a completely different skillset and much more like typical RC modelers. In FPV we all have a few things in common. The key one being we're in the (virtual) cockpit of a tiny stupid-fast little flying machine.

As for explaining the difference between my device and one of the more robotic things that most people think of like the Mavic, that's part of what people seem to be interested in. I've noticed that once they understand they start asking "so is it one of those kinds that can follow you" and stuff like that. Makes for an interesting conversation about something that I enjoy discussing. I usually explain the difference of having GPS and Accelerometer and other sensors and how mine only has a gyro to sense the rate of rotation etc etc for technical friends, and explain that "I do all the work and this thing will crash easy and it took at least 30 hours of practice just to be able to stay in the air" to non technical people.

i had those discussions few times... typically when i tell i fly quadcopter people are hearing "quad"
"how can you fly a motorbike?"
then the bagpack comes into the light ... "aaaa you fly drones that is easy i've seen it"
then i start the discussion about drone self aware - skynet - doom of humanity... and i fly with rc toys

ad second point it is easy i do a short fly - half of pack, take a person on a short ride...
then if he still insists this is easy i let him "hover" the quad... (i hold the failsafe switch )
results so far were:
- that is impossible, you broke something.. (short demo it still rips)
- that is not as i imagined it...

once i was "off" by around 1/2 second... quad fell of from 30 -50 meters to the ground like a brick

i enjoyed one person "who flys drones a lot" he got the controller (again i hold failsafe... such lack of faith) armed aaaand crash...
he flew only self leveling quads

so far i've infested like 30 minds and parked at least 15 own builds ... let the infection spread

If someone comes up to me while I'm flying and says "Is that a drone?" (Or the equivalent in Swedish), I say "No, this is a multirotor craft - a quadcopter in this case. Drones are often things that some governments use to kill people in other countries without having to invade them first.".

Then, I land, show them my craft and answer their questions.

I also take time to explain to them why I find it unpleasant and inaccurate to call what I fly "a drone". I also make sure they understand the difference between a UAV and a basic multirotor. Most people seem to welcome having the distinction explained to them.

Multirotors tend to attract attention from other people, often in the wrong way, so it's our duty to be good ambassadors for our hobby. Being a responsible pilot and educating people who express an interest by starting a conversation are two things that are part of the hobby, like it or not.

I'm never going to start calling my Chameleon "a drone"! Given that most languages have many different words for a flying machine and that the various words exist to enable more precise communication than grunting "fly" and pointing at something in the sky, we owe it to ourselves to use our words accurately and to educate the uninitiated if they are open to it.

I think we should call them "helicopters". There's nothing in the definition of the word that limits the number of rotors! The pure heli flyers would hate us for it though.

I have always considered 'drones' to have some sort of autonomous aspect, basically not just something that self levels, but something that you can set a flight path, bugger off for a fag, and let it do it's thing.

What we fly actually requires FLYING, therefore I think that what we fly should be called...

FLONES

I feel you on your objections Unseen. Being a believer of the non aggression principle of my political party the idea of calling these things after something that is used in a way that disgusts me does feel a little unethical somehow.

I tried the D-Word on for the first time tonight, and it didn't feel right... I think I already conditioned myself too much away from it. I felt guilty and uncomfortable afterwards.

For the bystander who observes first and then asks "what's that" the explanation of a quadcopter is no problem with me. In a business setting where I am discussing with a fellow professional what I did this weekend for fun it's a little tougher to go into a speech about the appropriateness of the label. Culturally among my co-workers this would sound as though I was being too technical for what is supposed to be a simple casual conversation. These are the scenarios where I wish I could just say "I fly FPV" and someone say "Oh neat, like that racing thing on ESPN?", which interestingly enough is a common way for people to understand what it is that my hobby is. It seems about half of the people I tell have at least seen one round of DRL.

My other problem is I agree with Tom, a "drone" when applied to a multirotor, sounds more like a robot that flies. A mavic or something equipped with GPS and return to home commands, and the ability to follow autonomously, etc.

POVCopter?

(23-Jun-2017, 11:02 AM)sloscotty Wrote: POVCopter?

lol.. somehow that sounds even more technical than "RC Quadcopter" lol...

POV-C wouldn't be a bad acronym though. Pronounced P+of See... nah... sounds too much like "puffy" when I say it... nevermind.

Maybe I should just tell people I am an FAA licensed pilot... even though that's not required anymore :p

(23-Jun-2017, 03:13 PM)Carl.Vegas Wrote: lol.. somehow that sounds even more technical than "RC Quadcopter" lol...

POV-C wouldn't be a bad acronym though. Pronounced P+of See... nah... sounds too much like "puffy" when I say it... nevermind.

Maybe I should just tell people I am an FAA licensed pilot... even though that's not required anymore :p

I was thinking it would be pronounced "Pahv-copter" (followed by an explanation that it was short for "point of view quad copter").

TBH, for better or worse - I think we are stuck with "Drone" (media, public consciousness, acceptance, and all that...)
EDIT: I will add, I think it's more important to change negative perceptions about what we do. Progress is being made there (even if slowly).

Yeah... I mean... if people understood that my quad cant spy on someone even if I tried maybe they wouldn't hate me...

far too noisy, and I don't like hovering in one place enough :p

Just like the FAA airspace shouldn't apply the same way to those of us who stay under 100ft.

OK now I am ranting.