Dr. Villasenor, who authored the LA Time Op-Ed that many of us took issue with, has been on a steep learning curve since that came out. He published a new blog at the Scientific American site today asking, and answering, the question in the title of this thread.

I have been in contact with Dr. Villasenor over the past couple of weeks and I know he has also been in contact with Rich Hanson at the AMA. I even think he is going to stop by Toledo this weekend if he can. I have to say that I am very pleased with how he has taken the opinions he has gotten from us here on FG, as well as other sites, along with what Rich has told him and developed a new and richer sense of what we in this hobby are all about. This is the way informed discussion is supposed to happen. A person holds an opinion, receives feedback and new information, and based on that changes their opinion if the new information warrants such a change. I congratulate Professor Villasenor for taking the time to learn who we are in this hobby and what we are all about. I think we can safely say that we have turned what was looking like a possible enemy into a true supporter of our hobby.

Now if we can just get the media to stop using the absurd term "drone"... But I'm dreaming there.

You can read the blog entry here:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...-drone-anyway/

RPV
UAV
UAS

"Drone" seems more universally understood anyway...

for a while it seemed everyone was calling all the UAV's "Predator"....

"Predator" is like the "Kleenex" of dronedom

lol