The opinions are divided on what a drone exactly is and what it is not. A general definition on which most people agree is there: a drone is an unmanned aircraft. It is thus about airplanes and helicopters without a pilot on board. Most of them are being controlled by a computer, a cell phone or by using a remote control. For some unmanned military aircrafts this explanation is too simple however. This kind of planes are being operated by pilots that have been trained extensively. Sometimes the controlling of the drone is just as complicated as a regular airplane. The only difference is that the pilot is not on board of the actual plane. Most drones for consumers and hobbyist are luckily easily controlled.
If you take a look on the internet, you will encounter different definitions and views regarding the drone. Let us there for start at the beginning. In fact the word "drone" is an English word for a male bee. This word was chosen as a nickname for unmanned military aircrafts. These are often quite large aircrafts that are operated from thousands of kilometres away with special equipment. Some people are therefore not agreeing with the fact that the term is being used for small, remote controlled aircrafts that everyone can use. Opposed to the military aircrafts, you have to be quite close to the hobbyist drones to control them. Moreover they are in general a lot smaller and look a lot more like helicopters or flying robots. Then again, these machines are often called drones by people. On the other hand, the unmanned military aircrafts are often described in a different way, such as an UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). We are therefore sticking to our wording that a drone is an unmanned aircraft. The name can thus be used for military and civil aircrafts without a pilot alike.
Who studies the possibilities of a drone, will maybe not be surprised that the drone was first only used for military goals. Even during World War I, developments had been made that would lead to the current day aircrafts. For consumers they only reached the market in the 21st century. The sales of drones for consumers was taking a good flight! This was not only because the aircrafts became more well known, but also because they became much more affordable thanks to cheaper parts and electronics. You can obtain the flying robots in many different kinds and price ranges, from simple to professional models. We will now discuss a number of them.
You can divide the types of different remote controlled aircrafts in different ways. For instance by size. Roughly taken you can name the drones from small to large: nano, micro, mini and professional drones. Sometimes the measurements can differ a little, this is why for example a professional drone can sometimes be a little smaller than a mini drone.
You can also divide them under the number of propellors they have. One of the most popular models is the quadcopter. That is a helicopter with multiple propellors. To be exact, there are four propellors. Besides the quadcopter you have the hexacopter with six rotors, and the octocopter which has eight rotors.
These helicopters with multiple propellors, unlike regular helicopters, do not have a tail rotor to stabilise the vehicle. They do not need this, because they have so many propellors they can do all kinds of difficult manoeuvres, such as hanging still in the air. This trick in particular comes in real handy when you want to take a sharp picture or a nice video. Besides this they will easily fly vertical and horizontal, something that a regular aircraft can not do.
Well you can do a lot with a drone! You can not think of anything too crazy, and a drone can do it. Of course this is very dependent on the model that you choose and which options your flying robot has. A drone with a camera is very fun if you want to make good photos or videos of places or points of view that you can not get to yourself in person. On YouTube you can for instance find a lot of videos that have been made with a flying drone. You can shoot buildings and landscapes for example in a special way. And from this you can make amazing videos. It is very handy if you are working in the fields of professional video and photography, but also a lot of fun if it is your hobby.
But the most fun you can have with a drone is of course simply flying it, pure for the joy of it. It is relaxing to fly with it. And it is of course a lot of fun to practice your flying abilities and improve them. Why do you think that people on the beach fly their kites regularly? On such a kite there is no complex electronic parts such as a camera, GPS, etc. Drones do have these kind of possibilities and makes them special in their own way.
They are, amongst other things, used to:
If you are just starting to fly a drone, you are best off starting with a simple and not too expensive model. It would be quite the pity if you buy a super expensive drone with a lot of advanced options and crash it on your first day. A waste of your money. Therefore start with a cheaper model and ensure that you start to master the controls. When you feel you are getting better at flying a drone, you can start to think about buying a more expensive model.
Drones are available with all kinds of electronics and options. There is so much that is possible. To give you a short overview, in general you can buy vehicles with the following options
