Comments on: QinetiQ's Zephyr breaks flight time record for unmanned aircraft

An unmanned aircraft stays in the air for more than three days.

[whds2008]

"Aircraft" is a collective noun. I usually don't comment on grammar, but if you can't even get a headline right, how am I supposed to believe what comes after it?

[dude7895]

Guy, no one cares.

[mvbcdo]

What's wrong witht hem using a collective noun? They're not talking about a world record for one specific unmanned airplaine. They're saying that it has broken the record for all unmanned aircraft.

Becides, I'm not even sure that you're right about the word, that aircraft is a a collective noun. If I own a byplane am I not allowed to say "I onwe an aircraft." ?

Anyway, the real point is that they ARE speaking in collective terms.

Christopher D. Osborn
fipher.blogspot.com

[terminalblue]

to whds2008...
just shut up

[krisbrixon]

@whds2008
Aircraft is singular and plural, the usage is valid.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aircraft

[Mac OS XP]

Cool! I was wondering when they'd put those modern light-weight materials and solar panels into a plain that could go on forever.

[kumomichi]

Just in case whds2008 doesn't comment on grammar '...panels into a plain that ..' should be 'plane' as in aeroplane or you could use 'craft' as in aircraft...

[mrgardon]

Cool but more detail please. Length? Width? Battery size, solar panel size? Anyone looking to scale it up? Oh... how fast does it fly?