The literature on the acceptance or adoption of unmanned aircraft, aka civil drones, is scarce and under-developed. The majority of literature discusses several social concerns, whereas only little research promotes economic concerns. Additionally, the literature does not consider existing technology acceptance theory, but arbitrarily investigates the acceptance of several applications. This research discusses both social and economic concerns and establishes for a conceptual framework for predicting the public acceptance of drones. The conceptual framework considers the contemporary issues (i.e. social and economic concerns) and is based on risk theory. It proposes that the perception of risk associated with the use of drones influence the public acceptance of the technology. Social and economic concerns, in turn, are proposed as constituents of perceived risk. The proposed model establishes for further theoretical development and empirical assessment in pursue of deeper explanation of the factors which influence public acceptance. The research concludes with stating limitations and proposing recommendations for future research.