Exactly where is the line between an RC plane and a drone?
Good question. Reporters are just hyping up the story because 'drone' sounds so much more sinister. What these guys were flying is a radio controlled model. Drone is really a very misapplied term. Drones use to refer to unmanned vehicles preprogramed to follow a certain flight path; often used for target practice. What is commonly referred to nowadays as a drone is really a remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). Same concept as a R/C model except an RPV is capable of being controlled from many miles away and does not rely on line-of-sight to pilot the craft. RPVs carry onboard cameras to relay visual information back to the operator.
“Exactly where is the line between an RC plane and a drone?”
RC was always line of sight and thus very short range in my limited understanding as a non-user just reading AMA materials.
When autonomous GPS navigation was introduced and available to the hobby buyer, that was the big differentiator for me, anyway.
Autonomous GPS means that a drone is limited only by fuel, geographic obstacles or bad weather, etc.
Back in the mid-2000’s some guy flew his little model plane from Ireland to the US using GPS!
That sure was fun, but it also opened up a Pandora’s box for bad actors whether simply malicious or terrorist.