What's New in Rotor Rate v1.8: Enter Mileage Your Way, Plus a Clearer Charge on Your Statement

This update is a quick one, and it comes almost entirely from a conversation with a pilot who wrote in with a couple of suggestions. Two changes — small on their own, but they close two paper cuts that quietly cost people money and trust.

Enter mileage the way you actually think about it

Since its inception, the calculator had one field: Miles, one-way. The math doubled it behind the scenes for fuel, travel pay, and the IRS mileage deduction. That's correct — but if you skipped past the label, it was easy to type in your total round-trip drive and get a bid that quietly doubled it again.

Now there's a small toggle right above the drive-time and miles inputs:

• One-way — you enter the one-way distance (home base → job site). Same as before.
• Round-trip — you enter the total round-trip distance and the app halves it internally so everything downstream stays accurate.

Whichever you pick is remembered for next time. If you're in round-trip mode, a small note under the field shows the one-way equivalent, so nothing is hidden — you can always see both numbers.

Charges now read "ROTOR RATE" on your customers' statements

Turns out our parent company name ("Gold Dog Studios") was showing up on card statements for subscription charges, and more than one person didn't recognize it. That's a fair reaction — you shouldn't have to remember two brand names to identify a $4.99 line item on your statement.

Fixed. Both the monthly and annual subscriptions now use ROTOR RATE as the statement descriptor on every charge, so it's unmistakable what the charge is for.

What else is in the pipeline

We're already working on the next round of feedback from the same conversation — a way to add non-drone equipment (GNSS receivers, LiDAR payloads, ground vehicles) to a bid, and processing-type pricing (photogrammetry, orthomosaic, 3D model, volumetrics) that reflects how much time a deliverable really takes. Those are bigger changes, so they'll land in their own release.

If you have a paper cut of your own, please smash the Feedback button in the app. That's exactly how Rotor Rate becomes a better tool for you and others.

-Rotor Rate Team-