Kind of ironic but at the same time the topic of not calling our drones/UAVs/UASs "toys" came up at about the same time on the 3DR forum I belong to, and I posted this there right after making my post here.
I don't mean to derail this thread, but I think we should recognize that even a "toy" can have a pretty important impact in our lives. This is what I posted there, and why I don't see calling my quadcopter a toy belittles it in any way:
A bit off topic, but a few years ago I was diagnosed with Cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma. As far as cancers go, this is an easy one to cure - but it is the cure that makes you wish you were dead.
They told me to take up a hobby to help with the stress of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. I'm not the type to sit at a desk and collect stamps, I needed something that took my mind off my predicament and that made me happy. I had flown RC planes years before, so I went out and bought an RC plane, then another, then I saw the Phantom 1 advertised. I bought one and was hooked. Every two weeks I had chemo, and in between there were about 5 days where I felt almost normal - I'd spend that time at the flying field flying fixed wings and the P1. Somedays I was so weak that I could barely hold the transmitter. As the chemo progressed I developed neuropathy in my thumbs and fingers and nearly lost all feeling (fully recovered now) in my finger tips. It made it very hard to fly a fixed wing, so the Phantom was all I flew for the last months of treatment.
Looking forward to flying was what got me through those last months of treatment.
That drone was my toy, and all the subsequent ones have filled the same roll.
Cancer has been gone for 3 years now, I'm fully recoverd, and drones will always be a special, sort of sanity saving toy in my mind. Flying was a form of therapy then, and it still serves as a great stress reliever.
Now back on topic.
I don't mean to derail this thread, but I think we should recognize that even a "toy" can have a pretty important impact in our lives. This is what I posted there, and why I don't see calling my quadcopter a toy belittles it in any way:
A bit off topic, but a few years ago I was diagnosed with Cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma. As far as cancers go, this is an easy one to cure - but it is the cure that makes you wish you were dead.
They told me to take up a hobby to help with the stress of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. I'm not the type to sit at a desk and collect stamps, I needed something that took my mind off my predicament and that made me happy. I had flown RC planes years before, so I went out and bought an RC plane, then another, then I saw the Phantom 1 advertised. I bought one and was hooked. Every two weeks I had chemo, and in between there were about 5 days where I felt almost normal - I'd spend that time at the flying field flying fixed wings and the P1. Somedays I was so weak that I could barely hold the transmitter. As the chemo progressed I developed neuropathy in my thumbs and fingers and nearly lost all feeling (fully recovered now) in my finger tips. It made it very hard to fly a fixed wing, so the Phantom was all I flew for the last months of treatment.
Looking forward to flying was what got me through those last months of treatment.
That drone was my toy, and all the subsequent ones have filled the same roll.
Cancer has been gone for 3 years now, I'm fully recoverd, and drones will always be a special, sort of sanity saving toy in my mind. Flying was a form of therapy then, and it still serves as a great stress reliever.
Now back on topic.
