Now, I'm not sure what your considered to be in when controlling a Drone directly with a Control Rig...

Are you in full VR (via Cold/Hot Sim?) Do you use Matrix Initiative when operating a Drone or do you use your meat body when operating a Drone?

If not, why would anyone EVER jump into a Drone VR style and risk dumpshock and Biofeedback? Better yet, if your a slow, couch potato Rigger, and your Drones all have Machine Initiative's of 3 passes, why would you ever slow your drones down by directly jumping into them?

And as a side question, if you don't use Matrix Initiative when Rigging a Drone, can you use Wired Reflexes/Synaptic Booster to increase your initiative passes when in the Drone?

There are 3 ways to command a drone, as I understand it.

1: orders. You simply tell the drone what to do through the commlink. Takes a simple action, the drone uses it's own dice pools and initiative.

2: Command program. Either AR or VR. In AR you use meat initiative, in VR you use matrix initiative. Use your own dice pools. (this one I am not certain of, I cannot find the appropriate pages with a quick search, and only recall hearing about it on the forums.)

3: Jumped in. Use your full VR initiative, and your own dice pools. get bonus for control rig. Get bonus for hot sim. Get dumpshocked when drone is blown up.

2 will use Command Program + Rigger Skill
3 will use Drone Response + Rigger Skill

VR + Hot sim + VCR adds quite a few dice to tests

So using Hot Sim will get you 3 Initiative Passes in total when your directly Rigging a Drone?

I believe VR by itself is 3 IP, nothing to do with being jumped in.

But I'm specifically asking about when you ARE jumped in, does it revert to your normal Initiative Passes or do you keep your Matrix passes?

(Keep in mind, I still have SR3 creeping in from time to time so I'm still trying to sift through the differences like not even needing a VCR anymore to jump into a Drone)

AR = use your meat initiative

VR Cold = Trix Initiative, 2IP

VR Hot = Trix Initiative, 3IP

So no, purely based on INITIATIVE there is no point in jumping in.
BUT Jumpin-In gives you a world of bonuses!

You get bonus dices.
You get lowered threshold.

...

One question though:
DireRadiant said that you use Drone Response + Rigger Skill.
I always read it as Your Commlink Response + Rigger Skill.
In VR you do everything through your Persona, and that runs on YOUR comm response...the Drone doesn't have to compute anything, it just has to respond to YOUR input.
Am I mistaken?
If yes, can anyone point out any specific text?

Otherwhise, THAT is another distinct advantage of Jumping In...

Also, as far as my knowledge goes there is a big error: the roll to COMMAND is Response + Command, while the roll to jump-drive is Response + RigSkill.
So another BIG difference is that a Command program is limited (you can buy it at Rating 6, but unless you have Response 6 it won't matter...and you CAN'T have R6 at char-gen) while your skill CAN start at rating 6, and with Specialization it can even start at 8!

So...
Pilots are good and issuing Commands is great but only Jumping you get a real edge.
Then you may consider pros and cons, risks and payoffs...and choose your preferred rigging method

[EDIT]
Nope...my bad...to Command a Drone you use Command + Skill, DireRadiant was right
I have still my doubts on the Drone Response vs Commlink Response issue, though.

May also enjoy the benefits of the Simsense Booster from Augmentation.

May also enjoy the benefits of both the Simsense Booster and/or the Simsense Accelerator from Unwired. If both are taken you're allowed to break the 4 IP cap from the core rules, getting 5 IP total.

1. Jumped-in rigging uses your matrix initiative, so having 3 IPs is cheap and simple. Very essence-friendly even.

2. “Any tests are made using the rigger’s skills plus the Matrix/vehicle attributes of the drone.� Errata 1.5 for pg. 239.

Unless all that Hot VR you're using to get that 3rd IP leads to an addiction to BTL-grade simsense input, and the slow spiral down to the "Burnout" level of addiction, where you begin to lose essence from body deterioration.

Ok, there seem to be some people saying you do get 3 IP's when your jumped into your Drone and some saying you don't... The rules are kinda vague on this point, is there some errata around or some general concensus to what a rigger gets when he's one with his drone?

In order to Jump In, you must be in VR. Use VR initiative as appropriate based on your choice of hot or cold sim etc. It's an indirect relationship, jumping in by itself does not confer initiative passes.

Page 239 of the main book. Jumping in requires VR. VR has an associated number of IPs (2 cold, 3 hot, plus extras), so you use those. There is no special IP rule for riggers.