A museum for American military drones!

[old iron]

I just came on to the webpage for the "Aviation Umanned Vehicle Museum" in Caddo Mills, Texas. New to me, perhaps to you?

see https://www.auvm.net/exhibits

Question?: How long before this name gets changed to "unpiloted"?

[Snake45]

Here's one they don't have--Fairchild SM-73 Goose.

[quemerford]

Question?: How long before this name gets changed to "unpiloted"?

Is 'drone' unacceptable then?

[old iron]

old iron wrote:
Question?: How long before this name gets changed to "unpiloted"?

Is 'drone' unacceptable then?

That is good question! "unpiloted drone" would be redundant, since both words mean eassentially the same thing. The museum might be more apprpriately named as the "Museum of Aviation Drones" (even though that designation might also include some bees).

In any case, "unmanned vehicles" is in literal use not specific enough: Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a Lockheed Vega, an "unmanned vehicle". This is not political correctness, but recognition that a growing number of pilots, including military, are not men; women might well prefer a more inclusive term. The solution I think is to replace "unmanned" in this use by "unpiloted".

[quemerford]

Seemed like a strange question in the first place: "Museum of Drone Aircraft" sounds good to me. Or "The NOLO Place" maybe?

[JohnB]

Kevin...

Since you mentioned Amelia, considering some of her aviation mishaps, some would consider any aircraft she flew as "unpiloted" as well as "unmanned".

[Scott Rose]

Definitely new to me. I'll have to check it out.

[old iron]

Since you mentioned Amelia, considering some of her aviation mishaps, some would consider any aircraft she flew as "unpiloted" as well as "unmanned".

All that gets said, but they did not have auto-pilots in those days. Amelia deserves a lot of credit. I wonder how many of the pilot-subscribers to this list would be willing try that with the equipment she used.

[JohnB]

Since you mentioned Amelia, considering some of her aviation mishaps, some would consider any aircraft she flew as "unpiloted" as well as "unmanned".

All that gets said, but they did not have auto-pilots in those days. Amelia deserves a lot of credit. I wonder how many of the pilot-subscribers to this list would be willing try that with the equipment she used.

I'll certainly give her full marks for guts, but her skills have been perhaps a bit overblown over the years.
It wasn't lack of an auto pilot that caused her Hawaii mishap or led to some pretty iffy decisions on her last trip.

I'm judging her not as a woman pilot, but as a pilot. After all, an airplane doesn't care what gender you are...If you don't treat it with skill and resoect, it will bite you.

[Randy Haskin]

I just came on to the webpage for the "Aviation Umanned Vehicle Museum" in Caddo Mills, Texas. New to me, perhaps to you?

see https://www.auvm.net/exhibits

Question?: How long before this name gets changed to "unpiloted"?

The military has been using the term "remotely piloted" (as in "remotely piloted aircraft" or RPA) for over a decade.

That being said, there are technical differences between (1) an aircraft that flies a flightpath that is pre-programmed before flight (e.g. a "drone") and (2) an aircraft that is remotely flown by a pilot who is not physically sitting in it (e.g. an RPA). They're both different than the future technology that doesn't exist that (3) uses artificial intelligence to follow general mission orders given to it either before and/or during the mission itself.

The three categories are obviously not the same, although currently they are all discussed in the general aviation community as if they were/are.