DroneXL.co is an independent drone news publication. It was founded on April 1, 2020 by Haye Kesteloo, who is its Editor in Chief and remains responsible for everything published under his byline. This page sets out how DroneXL reports, what it discloses, and how readers can hold it to account. It is linked from every article.

What DroneXL covers and where it stands

DroneXL reports on drone news, DJI rumors and leaks, drone regulation in the United States and abroad, public-safety and military drone use, and the drone industry. It also publishes hands-on reviews.

DroneXL holds editorial positions and states them openly rather than pretending to have none. It is pro-drone, pro-innovation, pro-safety, and pro-responsibility. It supports legitimate safety measures and fair, merit-based competition. It is skeptical of regulatory overreach and of rules that exist to protect incumbents. It opposes unfair competition from any country, including state subsidies from China and protectionism from Washington. It stands with Ukraine.

Those positions appear in a clearly labeled section at the end of most articles, headed DroneXL's Take. Everything above that heading is reporting. Opinion is kept out of the news paragraphs, and a reader who stops before the Take has read the facts of the story without the editor's view of them.

Sourcing and verification

DroneXL links to the original source of a story inside the article body: the filing, the enforcement notice, the product page, the court document, the press release, or the report. Dates, names, figures, distances, fines and regulatory citations are checked against that primary document before publication, not after.

A claim that rests on one party's word is presented as that party's word. A manufacturer's untested flight-time figure is attributed to the manufacturer. A leak is attributed to the leaker. A verified fact is stated as a fact. When DroneXL says a company or agency has not said something, that is a claim DroneXL checked, not an assumption.

Advocacy documents, including those from groups DroneXL supports, are treated as leads rather than sources. Each factual claim drawn from one is traced back to a primary record.

Quotes are verbatim. Where DroneXL has tested a product itself, the measurements are its own and are described as such.

Independence and disclosures

Affiliate links. DroneXL may earn a commission when you buy through links on the site, including as an Amazon Associate. Affiliate relationships have no effect on what is covered, how a product is reviewed, or whether a deal is recommended. A deal post is written because the price is worth knowing about, and the article says so when it is not.

Advertising. Display advertising on DroneXL is served by a third-party network. Advertisers have no input into coverage and are not told about stories before publication. Pilot Institute is a long-term partner and advertiser with DroneXL. Pilot Institute has no say over any DroneXL news coverage.

Drone Advocacy Alliance. DroneXL has been a partner of the Drone Advocacy Alliance since June 2024. That partnership is disclosed in every article that links to the Alliance, together with the fact that DJI is among its funders.

Review units. Manufacturers sometimes provide products for review. A review says when the unit was supplied and by whom, and the manufacturer does not see the review before it is published.

Contributors and partner content

DroneXL publishes work from named contributors, each with an author page describing who they are. Some articles are built from videos by YouTube creators DroneXL works with, such as Pilot Institute, Air Photography, Jake Sloan, 51 Drones and DC Rainmaker. Those articles run under the creator's own byline, in the creator's own words, with the video embedded, and the views in them are the creator's. They do not carry a DroneXL's Take section.

Photographs and images

DroneXL does not add, remove or move anything in a news photograph, whether it was shot by DroneXL or supplied by someone else, and it does not use generative or AI upscaling tools on other people's photographs. Where an image DroneXL is entitled to enlarge has been enlarged, the caption says so. AI-generated imagery is never presented as photography. Photo credits appear in the caption.

Automated tools

DroneXL uses automated tools, including large language models, to support research, source retrieval, transcription and drafting. Every fact is verified by the editor against a primary source, every editorial position is Haye Kesteloo's own, and every article carries a note saying so. The full policy is at How DroneXL uses automated tools.

Corrections

DroneXL corrects errors of fact promptly and says what changed. How to report one, and what happens when you do, is set out in the corrections policy.

Contact

Questions about a story, a complaint about fairness, or a tip: write to Haye Kesteloo at haye at dronexl dot co or use the contact page. Tips are treated in confidence.

Last updated September 11, 2026.