Media droning on again...

[Lima Juliet]

It seems that the media are calling remote control, or autonomous, submarines "drones".

MH370: Underwater drone to aid search for missing plane | World news | theguardian.com (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/14/underwater-drone-to-aid-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-plane)

BBC News - Missing flight MH370: Robotic submarine to begin search (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27017928)

Search chief Angus Houston said the Bluefin-21 drone would be sent down as soon as possible to search for wreckage on the sea floor.


So the target towing DH Queen Bee aircraft of the 1930/40s - nicknamed 'the drone' - is now responsible for the naming of robotic submarines! I wonder what this means for the sandalista within DroneWarsUK, who seem to think that they're all evil killing amchines about to inherit the earth?

LJ

[melmothtw]

You believe that the media (and everyone else) is referencing 'the target towing DH Queen Bee aircraft of the 1930/40s' when they refer to drones?

I really don't know why everyone gets their knickers in a twist over the term. The objections to its use from the MoD etc are down it being a politcally charged term that makes their job of selling their use harder, not because of any techincal inaccuracy.

It has entered the popular vernacular, and is in the dictionary as such, so let it go.



drone

1 /droʊn/ Show Spelled [drohn] Show IPA
noun 1. the male of the honeybee and other bees, stingless and making no honey. See illus. under bee (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bee).

2. a. an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/control) or beyond line (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/line) of sight: the GPS of a U.S. spy drone.

b. (loosely) any unmanned aircraft or ship that is guided remotely: a radio-controlled drone.



3. a person who lives on the labor of others; parasitic loafer.

4. a drudge.

[Haraka]

I think you will find that the Queen Bee in operation was;
a. Radio controlled , therefore not a drone.
b. An aerial target itself, not target-towing.

[NutLoose]

3. a person who lives on the labor of others; parasitic loafer.



Cool, we could blitz the area, we have millions of those "Drones" we could drop in the sea off Australia..

[Heathrow Harry]

I thought we Brits had dropped several tens of thousands of them IN Australia in the 19th Century............................. ;)

[John Botwood]

"I thought we Brits had dropped several tens of thousands of them IN Australia in the 19th Century"

Well they certainly made a better job of this country than others did of theirs.

JohnB

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Drone = Member of the Drones Club, e.g. Bertie Wooster.

That'll be the Telegraph's meaning anyway ;)

[VX275]

As I live near Boscombe Down I can tell you that Watchkeeper isn't a drone, its more of an annoying buzz - not a nice sound at all.

[BEagle]

Shortly after one of these flying acroynms Hellfired some rusty old Toyota pick-up and splattered the desert with the worthless remains of some ex-Al-Qaeda vermin and his cohorts, I wrote something on PPRuNe about 'The drones of death' being the cause. Some trawling meeja-luvvie picked up on the term - and the result was that the word 'drone' re-entered common use.

Reliable word has it that the RPV/RPAS/UAV/UAS/(insert latest silly TLA/4LA as reqd.) 'industry', specifically 't Bungling Baron Waste o'Space's mob oop Preston way, really, really hate the word 'drone'......as do drone operators.

So drone it MUST now be! Tough doo-doo, live with it!

[NutLoose]

So it was you......

[Haraka]

Let him believe it; if it makes him happy as he nurses his cocoa.........

[500N]

Hook, line and sinker ?????? ;) :O

[BEagle]

Cheeky old beggar, Haraka! If nurse appears in her form fitting uniform with a wicked little smile, cocoa will be the last thing on the agenda....:E And you'd know more about old age than I would in any case!

NutLoose, although the term 'drone' had been around for years, it wasn't really in common use until shortly after I'd written about 'The drones of death' on PPRuNe. Probably just a coincidence.....but true.

Normal people use nouns for aircraft, such as helicopter, aeroplane, sailplane, balloon, microlight etc. But the term for these flying acronyms kept changing to yet another silly TLA/4LA - so the establised term 'drone' is entirely reasonable. To everyone, it would seem, except drone operators and manufacturers.....whose latest preference is RPAS :uhoh:

There is zero chance of the meeja using the term 'RPAS', so 'drone' is here to stay, like it or not.

[Archimedes]

Not all operators, BEags - there's a piece in the latest Air Power Review in which OC 13 Squadron makes a similar point and suggests that perhaps getting people to understand that drones are not quite what dronewars et al would want us to believe would be a more profitable approach to the word...

[Haraka]

Calling RPVs, UAPs or UASs "flying acronyms" is misleading ,as these terms are not acronymns, being abbreviations; although conceivably you could make a sort of word out of "RPAS".
"Drone" is of course a word properly used to describe a pre-programmed pilot-less machine ( normally an aircraft) loosely and unfortunately used by the ignorant as a synonym for an RPV.
The fact that such a term it is in common incorrect usage , does not necessarily infer its acceptance by those professionally involved. The press call any tracked vehicle with a gun a "tank", refer tautologically to 'SAM Missiles" , confuse "aerostats" with tethered LTA platforms and seem to think that "dirigible" refers to a rigid structured aerostat. I see now that a "Fencer" is being referred to as a fighter ( O.K. that was originally an old ASCC cock-up but "Bencer" wasn't really a retrospective option).
By all means let us laugh at the puerile antics of the "meeja" but don't let us fall into the trap of acceptance of misleading and ultimately confusing terms.
And while we're at it, when (and why) some years ago did the term "strike" lose its particular connotation? I also note that "proliferation" has also seemingly changed its meaning in parlance vis-a-vis WMD.

[melmothtw]

The fact that such a term it is in common incorrect usage , does not
necessarily infer its acceptance by those professionally involved.


As a defence journalist I have been to plenty of briefings where 'the professionals' have referred to UAVs as drones, so be careful about casting aspersions on the 'meeja'. We didn't invent the term (that was BEagle, apparently).

Like I said, I don't see the term 'drone' as being misleading. Politcally charged and unhelpful maybe, but not misleading.

[CoffmanStarter]

BEagle ... we should be more concerned with the prospect of Drone BBQ's looking to join the ranks of the PPRuNe BBQ Squadron :=

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XHJBxEAZ3E

Coff.

[Haraka]

Like I said, I don't see the term 'drone' as being misleading. Politcally (sic) charged and unhelpful maybe, but not misleading.

Well, that is the difference between us my friend :)

[melmothtw]

No harm in disagreeing Harak, but no need for the smug 'sic'. I did spot that error not long after it was posted, but decided against correcting it as I thought it was our comments that we were discussing, not our spelling or grammar.

Stay classy.

[FFP]

What do the drone operators think of the term drone operator ?

They really don't care.

Don't hate the players, hate the game ;)

[Willard Whyte]

One wonders if those who get in a frightful old flap about the use of the word drone, also drone on when people use figures of speech such as "it's freezing cold" when the temperature isn't exactly 0 centigrade.*

Life is just too short for that kind of anal retentiveness.


* just a little test...

[Lima Juliet]

Coff

That's brilliant - especially given BEags' dislike for the gas BBQ! Where can I buy one so I can hover it over BEagle Towers firing snorkers and dropping burgers with abandon? :E:E:E

LJ

[Lima Juliet]

Willard

I guess it's the same as the 'apostraphe police' and the 'spelling kommando' that haunt PPrune - ie. it's bl00dy annoying when the wrong words are used! :ok:

LJ

[Haraka]

Laziness in language is redolent of laziness in thinking.
There are those among us who freely indulge in it and who are not cognisant of, nor accountable for, its possible consequences.
However, there are others who are.

[melmothtw]

Beverley.
First flight (as the "Universal Freighter") 20 June 1950, so younger than the Canberra.:)

Captain( Harold Wood) to Co-Pilot (D.G. Brade) on lifting off from Brough.

"Well, my side's airborne!"


A post of yours from 4 April Haraka. If you're going to pick up others on their spelling and/or grammer and be such a pompous p***k about it, you should note that you too can be called out.

For future reference, when using brackets the space comes after the preceding word, not after the opening bracket. Captain( Harold Wood) should be Captain (Harold Wood).

Feel slightly debased for having been brought down to your level, but laziness in language is redolent of laziness in thinking.

[Mil-26Man]

Owned Haraka. Pompous p***k indeed.

[Windy Militant]

Hmm I thought it came from the noise Bees made in the hive, which then became used to describe musical instruments esp Bagpipes and of course to describe boring monotonous speeches as in 'He Droned on and on' much as happens here! :};)

[Lima Juliet]

Memothtw

You see mate, you just had to do it. No Apostraphe Police, but Herr Spelling Kommando has stood to, with immediate effect.

It's "grammar", not "grammer"! :ugh:

Plus, the Punctuation Warrant Officer would like to have a word with you as well! :=

LJ :ok:

[Haraka]

Captain( Harold Wood) should be Captain (Harold Wood)

Why thank you melmothtw for your observation. When I am next over on that thread, I'll be sure to correct it.

[melmothtw]

Not necessary Haraka. We're here to discuss ideas, not to nit-pick spelling/grammar.

LJ, there's an 'l' in my moniker. Easily done, isn't it.

[Lima Juliet]

Melmothtw

Fair dos. What is a "melmothtw", anyway? :}

LJ

[melmothtw]

Melmothtw? Melmoth the wanderer. It's a book I was reading at the time I signed up to PPrune. Melmoth the Wanderer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melmoth_the_wanderer)

I needed a moniker, and the book was sat on my desk. It's worth a read if you get the chance...

[Haraka]

drone
1 Pre-programmed pilotless aircraft, usually employed as an airborne target: either pilotless version of obsolete combat aircraft or smaller aircraft designed as target.Totally different species from RPV's.
2 Loosely and unfortunately used as a synonym for RPV.

Bill Gunston

Jane's Aerospace Dictionary ( Third Edition)
I would suggest that his opinion was that of an informed aviation journalist.
All of which which takes us back to the OP.

Haraka out.

[melmothtw]

Bill Gunston

Jane's Aerospace Dictionary ( Third Edition) I would suggest that his opinion was that of an informed aviation journalist.
All of which which takes us back to the OP.

Haraka out.


Sadly, Bill is no longer with us (I knew him professionaly for a number of years before his passing). I would suggest that maybe the popular vernacular has evolved since Bill wrote that (and will continue to do so), to now include 'drone' as a popular term for UAV.

Edited to add: A quick Google search tells me that Jane's Aerospace Dictionary (Third Edition) was published in 1988!!

an informed aviation journalist

Again with the sly barbs. You just can't help yourself, can you?