History of Drones – From Military to Commercial and Recreational Use

Aerial drone technology may be one of the most interesting innovations over the last 10+ years. However, what you may not know is that the history of drones timeline actually dates back more than 100 years. Our modern drone technology got its start with Military Usage but has made its way into Commercial and Recreational use as well. In this article we are going to go over some of the important historical points throughout the history of drones timeline, beginning with its deep military roots and leading up to how drones are used today in areas like photography, infrastructure, and even agriculture.

1. The First UAV and Quadcopter
   • First UAV Bomb!
   • Quadcopter
2. Military Drone Use in Wars
   • WWI
   • WWI
   • Vietnam and Beyond
3. Commercial and Recreational Use
4. Our Drones and Partnerships
5. Quick and Modern Statistics
6. Special Bonus: Editing Resources (psst…they are mostly free)

The First UAV and Quadcopter

So, we’ll begin well before the first quadcopter drone is developed. Over 230 years ago, in 1783, the first unmanned craft was used. No, this was not a drone…it was, however, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). You may have guessed it; it was the hot air balloon! Believe it or not, the first unmanned flying bomb (coming over 65 years later), was actually a hot air balloon bomb. This type of “militarized weaponry” was used by Austrian Artillery in 1849. 

Yes, that was an amazing innovation for its time, but since we are focused on remote controlled (RC) Drones, we will fast forward, on the history of drones timeline, to when the first functional quadcopter was created in 1907 by Jacques and Louis Bréguet. Even though the aircraft could not be steered, needed at least 4 people to keep it steady, and only got about 2 feet of lift, this breakthrough undoubtedly led to the technology we have access to today.

Military Drone Use in Wars

Like many of our modern technologies, drones got their start with widespread military adoption. Back in the WWI days, Nikola Tesla sparked the idea of using RC Pilotless airplanes as aerial targets (bombs). Even though the original aerial target innovation was never used in WWI, it later led to the famous experimental unmanned torpedo, the Kettering Bug, which could reach and strike enemies up to 75 miles away from its launch point and carry over 180lbs of explosives.

Without getting into too much detail, the Kettering Bug had many of the same features that our commercial drones have today. No, it did not have the ability to take off on its own power (used a dolly-and-track system), but it did have a navigation system, balancing mechanism, several electronic components, and a barometer/altimeter onboard.

If you’d like to learn more about the Kettering Bug and how it really shaped the future of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for both military and commercial use, we highly suggest visiting the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

As you may have guessed, WWI was not the end for drone usage by military forces. During the next World War (WWII) drones were used for gunner training and mission aids. For example, the Queen Bee, was a combat training drone used by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force during WWII to provide target practice for anti-aircraft gunners. Across the Atlantic, the German military forces were also putting to work a remote controlled, ship-sinking, 2300lb bomb known as the Fritz X. The Fritz X can be seen in history books today as the first successful deployment of a remote-controlled weapon.

As you could imagine, these brought about the desire for other military groups to produce more anti-ship missiles. These would not only make combating seabound enemies more effective but were also thought to be a way to save many soldiers’ lives since they can be piloted remotely and would surely hold off attacks since having the technology is an immediate defensive threat to any attacks.

Fast forward a little, staying on the history of drones timeline, to the Vietnam War, and you can finally see that the U.S. Air Force specifically began using UAVs to cut down on casualties and, with official word coming out in the early 70s, for decoying and surveying. Drone technology investments and advancements really started launching to the moon following the Soviet Union announcing that they successfully shot down an American spy plane during the Vietnam War. 

Arguably more exciting and drone-relevant statistics can be studied during the Lebanon War in the 1980s. It was during this war that drones made their first significant and “measurable” difference in the outcome of a battle, the Battle of Jezzine. UAVs not only aided Israel in winning the battle, but also allowed them to do so with extremely limited casualties. This would ultimately solidify their military significance. 

Commercial and Recreational Use

Even though it was not the end of military drone usage by a long shot (see information about the Pioneer and Predator Drones and Hellfire anti-tank missiles), the period on the history of drones timeline between the 90s and early 2000s brought about major advancements in mini radio-controlled components which would allow for a big push in the commercial usage segment. This commercial usage was mainly for filmmaking, pipeline inspection, crop evaluation, and security at first but would quickly trickle down to consumer electronics (hobbyist) as well.

Following Hurricane Katrina, permission was put in place for search and rescue teams (both military and commercial) to survey land after Hurricane Katrina and provide disaster relief to civilians. The drones at this time could detect human life from nearly 10,000 feet away using their heat signatures. It wasn’t until 2006 that UAVs would be allowed to be flown in civilian airspace and therefore be used for recreational purposes. In fact, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted the very first commercial drone permit during that year. 

Due to privacy reasons, the FAA quickly (circa 2009) came out with laws making it a requirement to follow certain regulations to promote privacy and safety during recreational flights. This would become the biggest hurdle for drone companies and remote pilots. Nonetheless, companies like Parrot, DJI, and 3DR jumped at the opportunity to market drones to a new audience.

In 2010, Parrot, a French drone manufacturer, released the first AR Drone. Even though its since been discontinued, this drone was an amazing step forward because it was the first that could be controlled via a Wi-Fi connection and a smartphone application. This particular aircraft caught on very quickly, for obvious reasons, and Parrot sold close to a half million units!

Somewhere around 2013, Amazon publicly (becoming the first company to make such an announcement) stated they would start using and developing drone technology for deliveries. Fast forward to today, and you can see UAVs are being used, both commercially and as a hobby, for delivering supplies and products, fertilizing and sewing crops, capturing high quality photography and video, completing structural inspection, land surveying, racing, and facility surveillance – to name a few.

Now, a pretty commonplace drone feature, hobby and commercial drones even have smart computer vision and machine learning technologies in them. This was actually introduced in 2018 by DJI in their Phantom 4 model. Thanks to these advancements, drones can now avoid obstacles in their paths, intelligently track and photograph objects as well as the remote pilot, and even return to their starting place (or a marked area) without a lot of manual flying.

Our Drones and Partnerships

As promised, now we will talk about the drones that our shop has to offer with some of the specific advancements we talked about. We always appreciate the business but we also know that prices can be a deciding factor. Since you read our article, we would be happy to offer you a PROMOTIONAL DISCOUNT! Please leave us a message or comment here, through our email, or on our Facebook page and let us know what you thought of the article and what drone you are looking to purchase and we will drop you a discount code. 

Here is a shortened list of drones with Obstacle Avoidance. To see all drones that have this feature, CLICK HERE or use the search tool on our website.

Here is a list of some of the drones in our shop that have the One-Key Return Home feature and the Autonomous Path feature. Again, for a full list you can either CLICK HERE or search for “Return Home” or “Path” from our page.

The third feature we would like to highlight, which, if you remember from earlier, is actually a development from about 20 years ago, is Mobile App Control. Most of our drones have this feature, but for you viewing pleasure, here is a short list.

Even though there are MANY other features you can look for (see our What is the Best Drone for a Beginner post) the final suggestion list from our shop is going to highlight the camera quality. Here is a shortened list of drones that either have 4K camera quality OR Dual Camera options. You can filter our shop results by “4K and up” or CLICK HERE for the full list.

Now, even though we would LOVE for you to use our shop to purchase your next drone, we also have partnerships with three of the top drone companies IN THE WORLD: Autel, DJI, and EXO. If you’d like to shop any of these brands, please use our referral links so we can keep these partnerships alive!

Autel: https://shop.autelrobotics.com/?ref=MeteorDrone 

DJI: https://click.dji.com/AI5MJ_odgtq9GzFzL6dT8g?pm=link 

EXO: https://exodrones.com/?rfsn=6756465.a0c693 

Modern-ish Statistics

Want some quick interesting stats along the history of drones timeline?

• In 2019, there were 12.9 million Drone shipments of retail items with that number expected to reach 122 million by 2023
• The majority (over 70%) of reported drone crashes around the world can be accredited to the US Army
• In mid 2022, the FAA reported that there were nearly 900,000 drones registered in the US alone. That number includes a little over half a million registered for recreational use (only drones over 249g have to be registered)
• The FAA also has reported that over 277 thousand remote pilot certificates have been awarded
• It has been suggested that over 15% of the US population has flown a drone at some point in their lives (the majority of those being in the 35-50 year age, as of 2022)
• Even though the laws have become pretty strict and pilots have gotten a lot of pushback from their communities, over half of airspace authorization requests have been approved since their inception (info directly from the FAA)
• U.S. Businesses and Government Agencies alone have spent over $13 million on drones
• By the end of 2022, the drone market is projected to reach nearly $7706 million and then up to $92 billion by 2030

Do you have any other statistics or information to share? If so, LET US KNOW either in the comments or shoot us a message!

Editing Resources

So, we’ve tackled the history of drones timeline and we really appreciate you sticking with us and learning about how the astonishing UAV technology we have today came into existence. Now, as always, we want to highlight a few resources that you have at your disposal to make your experience with drones and editing even better. These resources are specifically aimed toward editing the exhilarating pictures and videos captured with your drone.

1. Photopea – This is a FREE open source software you can use to edit pictures. It’s a great alternative to something like Photoshop if you don’t want to fork out the dough! Just visit www.photopea.com and start editing right away!
2. Davinci Resolve – Another FREE program that you can use for editing (free as long as you don’t make too much money from it). This program, from Blackmagic Designs, allows you to create stunning videos with its very powerful, built-in tools. There is a learning curve, but its definitely worth it if you want to create awesome videos. Blackmagic also has tons of equipment that could be useful as well. Click HERE to download the latest version of Davinci Resolve.
3. Fiverr – Don’t have the time or know-how to make your photos and videos pop? There are professionals out there ready to help you do just that. Use Fiverr to find affordable services from EXPERTS in their fields. We’d greatly appreciate using our links below to do so.
   1. Two Options to select your own freelancer to edit your projects: Option 1 or Option 2
   2. Our Fiverr editor Selection: Schell House Media  
4. Contact us and we can edit for you as well

That’s all we have for now regarding the history of our modern day drones. We hope you take away a lot of useful (or just interesting) knowledge about the roots of the drone industry. All that’s left now is to get yourself a drone (if you don’t already have one), get it registered and licensed if necessary, and start marking your spot on the history of drones timeline! If you have any questions or comments about the post or would like to share your own shots or information please feel free to reach out via email or social media at any time.