Drones have revolutionized how we use the sky, so it may be surprising to learn that they have a history predating the airplane. In this article we’ll look at the key moments in history that led us to these amazing machines, and what the future holds too.
c.300 B.C. First man-made flying objects
The first ever flying devices were uncrewed and are still in use today: sky lanterns, originating in China more than two thousand years ago. Sky lanterns are thin paper shells with a candle placed underneath. Convection drives them up to a mile in the sky before the flame dies, at which point they float gently back down to earth.
Yi Peng Lantern Festival, Thailand. Source: Creative Commons
1783 – First full-size uncrewed aircraft
Inspired by convection lifting laundry when it dried over a fire, brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier built the first hot air balloons and executed a famous demonstration to a crowd of VIPs at Annonay in 1783. The balloon was 35 feet in diameter and powered by burning straw and wool. It rose to around 3,000 feet and came to land more than a mile away.
Model of the Montgolfier brothers’ balloon at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, France. Source: Creative Commons
1860 – First aerial photograph
The oldest surviving aerial photograph was taken by James Wallace Black in a hot air balloon: Boston from 1,200 feet. It’s known that aerial photographs of Paris had been taken two years prior by Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, but sadly these pieces did not survive.
“Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It”, 1860. Source: Boston Public Library
1877 – First powered helicopter
The idea of flight powered by horizontal propellers is an ancient one. Bamboo flying toys with propellers have been around for thousands of years, and visionaries throughout history have been drawing up fantastical plans for such aircraft, including Leonardo da Vinci. Italian engineer Enrico Forlanini demonstrated the first working helicopter in 1877. Powered by steam, the flight lasted 20 seconds with the helicopter reaching an altitude of 43 feet.
Forlanini’s experimental helicopter. Source: Musea nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia
1898 – First remote-controlled craft
Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves in 1886 and it was the beginning of a new era of technology. Soon after, Nikola Tesla was granted a patent for his “Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanisms of Moving Vessels or Vehicles”, which he called the "teleautomaton". It was a simple wireless remote-control system based on a coherer. He successfully demonstrated it with a small model boat at Madison Square Garden in 1898.
Nicola Tesla’s radio-controlled boat. Source: Creative Commons
1907 – First quadcopter
‘Gyroplane No. 1', the first quadcopter, flew for about a minute at an altitude of 0.6 meters. Powered by a small Renault engine, the aircraft could not be controlled and was completely unstable, but it was a significant demonstration in the development of drone technology.
Bréguit-Richet Gyroplane No. 1. Source: Creative Commons
1917 – First radio-controlled plane
The first flight of a radio-controlled aircraft was with the ‘Ruston Proctor Aerial Target’. The aircraft was the brainchild of Archibald Low, a prolific inventor, and produced for the UK’s Royal Flying Corps. The aircraft's body was designed by de Havilland and launched with compressed air. The first official demonstration successfully proved that an aircraft could be controlled wirelessly, although the flight ended in a crash due to engine failure. Interestingly, the name ‘aerial target’ was a lie meant to mislead German spies: the brief was actually to create a guided bomb.
The Ruston Proctor Aerial Target, 1917. Source: Creative Commons
1935 – First true drone
The first flight of the de Havilland Queen Bee, considered by some to be the first multi-use modern drone. Based on the successful Tiger Moth aircraft, the Queen Bee could take off from sea or land, reach altitudes of 17,000 feet and speeds of 100 mph. It was used by the RAF for target practice for anti-aircraft gunners and trainee pilots. They were very successful, with 380 produced throughout the war.
Some say that the modern use of the word drone is in honor of this aircraft; a drone is a kind of male bee.
A 1944 de Havilland Queen Bee, Bedfordshire, 2021. Source: Alan Wilson
1941 – First mass-produced drone
The Radioplane OQ-2 enters production. Invented by actor and WWI veteran Reginald Denny, this was the first mass-produced, purpose-built drone, and that purpose was target practice for the US Air Force. The aircraft was powered by a two-cylinder piston engine and two contra-rotating propellers and landed by way of parachute, if it survived the target practice. More than 9,400 were produced during the war, and more than 70,000 when including later variants in the post-war period. Radioplane was purchased by Northrop in 1952.
1946 Radioplane OQ-19D, Military Aviation Museum Virginia 2018. Source: Tomás Del Coro
1960s - 1980s – Breakthroughs in miniaturization and communications
During this period electronics became considerably smaller and lighter, while global communication systems improved exponentially. Inventions like the integrated circuit (1958), digital data transmission (1965-677) and the Global Positioning System (first launch 1978) appeared over this period, enabling RC technology to boom and paving the way for modern drone technology.
1973 – First long-range surveillance drone
The advent of the Tadiran Mastiff signaled the beginning of the era of modern surveillance drones. The aircraft had miniaturized electronics and a long-range data link system with high-resolution video and could stay in the air for more than seven hours.
IAI/Tadiran Mastiff III, Air Force Museum, Israel 2018. Source: Creative Commons
1999 – First successful quadcopter
Draganflyer released the Draganflyer I. It was not the first RC quadcopter by any means, and it was more popular amongst researchers than the general public, but it was the first commercially successful drone in the form we know today. Its success could be partly attributed to its appearance in the 1999 movie “Inspector Gadget”.
2006 – FAA issues first drone permit for civil airspace
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, RC helicopters and drones were used to help find survivors and transport light deliveries. They proved their worth, and the US aviation regulator issued permits for UAVs to fly in civilian airspace for the first time. The long-range thermal cameras of Predator drones proved perfect for locating missing persons and coordinating relief. However, it wasn't until 2014 that the FAA issued its first permissions for commercial operations.
A drone searches for survivors in Pearlington, Mississippi, 2005. Credit: Safety Security Rescue Research Center
2006 – DJI founded
Da-Jiang Innovations was created by Frank Wang in Shenzen, China. The launch of its Phantom drone in 2013 was groundbreaking for the drone industry because it was affordable and easy to fly straight out of the box. As of 2024, the company commands more than 70 percent of the global drone market and sells products in more than 100 countries worldwide.
2010 – Smartphone connection
Parrot releases the AR Drone, the first drone that could be flown via a smartphone. It sold more than half a million units – a significant number for a new, niche technology.
2013 – Drone saves a life
The first documented case of a drone saving a life was when Royal Canadian Mounted Police used a Draganflyer quadcopter to find a missing person. Ground teams and a police helicopter failed to locate a man with a head injury who had wandered off in sub-zero temperatures - but the Mounties had a drone with an infrared camera that quickly found the man, saving him from certain death.
This was far from the last time. Drones have become indispensable for emergency relief teams around the world with their ability to find survivors, deliver medical supplies to inaccessible places, and coordinate ground teams from the air.
A relief worker shows off his drone in the aftermath of the Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal 2015. Source: UKISAR
2010 – 1015 – Developments in drone regulation
As drones became more advanced, affordable and easy to fly, the drone market exploded - and governments worldwide took notice.
The International Civil Aviation Organization published its first report on the subject in 2011 and shortly afterwards, US Congress passed the Modernization and Reform Act ordering the FAA to develop a framework. By 2017, both the FAA and EASA had published plans for regulatory infrastructure that would enable large-scale drone operations, and were already mandating drone pilots to comply with aviation law, including registering themselves and their aircraft.
Today, governments are in the process of implementing technology that will enable regulation and coordination of uncrewed aircraft at the same level that we expect of traditional aircraft. For example, Network ID is being made mandatory in the US and Europe, enabling drones to broadcast ID and telemetry data during flights, while multiple aviation authorities are actively researching and planning implementation of national control systems for uncrewed aircraft.
2018 – High Lander founded
High Lander was created by air force veterans and technology experts with the goal of providing software solutions to enable the safe implementation and growth of drone technology on national scales.
2021 – Drone flies on Mars
"Ingenuity" was drone that accompanied the Perseverance Rover to Mars in 2021. It was specially designed for Martian conditions – extremely lightweight and with very fast rotors, as well as inbuilt cooling and heating systems for operating in the extremities of an almost non-existent atmosphere. The intention was for only five flights, but it outperformed expectations, operating for more than three years, flying 72 times and traveling more than 17 kilometers.
Recently, NASA confirmed its plan to build a drone that will fly on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The launch is planned for July 2028 - although as Titan is 746 million miles away, it won’t arrive until 2034.
Ingenuity photographed on Mars by the Perseverance Rover on day no. 43 of its operation. Credit: Inara Prey, flickr
2024 - The future of aviation
Today there are literally millions of registered drones around the world, used by hobbyists, businesses and governmental authorities alike. According to Drone Industry Insights the global drone market is worth more than $36 billion and predicted to grow by more than seven percent CAGR until 2030, making it one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Interestingly, the commercial and public safety sectors are growing far faster than recreational use, reflecting the ever-growing presence of drones in fields including deliveries, security, research, construction, agriculture and emergency response.
Furthermore, the introduction of advanced air mobility - in other words, air taxis - will soon enable regular people to fly to work and back as easily as getting into a taxi. This market is worth almost $10 billion according to Global Market Insights, and that before the technology has even gone live.
AIR ONE eVTOL. Source: AIR
Keeping the skies safe
All of this new air traffic could threaten to overwhelm our air traffic management systems - they already work round the clock, and use technology which is not designed to track small, low-flying aircraft. Luckily, the technology needed to manage UAS traffic is already mature. Uncrewed traffic management (UTM) systems are designed to gather UAS data via a range of inputs and coordinate activity on large scales, providing services like flight plan coordination and authorization, real-time deconfliction, drone registration portals, NOTAM dissemination and more. Most importantly, they supplement ATM technology and enable ANSPs to manage drone traffic. With such systems in place, UAS can operate in harmony with traditional aviation, opening the sky up to whole new generation of pilots.
Vega UTM dashboard. Source: High Lander
To learn about how Vega UTM can enable large-scale drone operations in your jurisdiction, get in touch.
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