As the drone industry keeps expanding all over the world, and in various commercial industries, the urge for organizations and individuals to acquire a drone, in order to improve their jobs, continues to grow. However, streamlined and efficient training programs need to be undertaken before one takes a drone to the skies.

To help drone pilots in the US quickly learn the fundamentals of flying, DJI has partnered with Rocky Mountain Unmanned Systems (RMUS) to create a new Unmanned Aerial Systems Training Center (UTC) program, which will take advantage of RMUS’ eight training centers located in Utah, Washington, California, Hawaii, Delaware, Ohio, Texas, and Illinois.

By providing online and on-site training, the UTC program, which began in China in 2016, has over 200 training centers across 6 countries, with more than 40,000 pilots trained since inception. The program aims “to create a UAS training service platform that establishes global industry training standards, helping enterprises to scale out their drone operations and bringing clarity to pilots looking to upskill themselves with advanced pilot skills”.

With plans to open courses for Aerial Photography, UAS Inspection, and Public Safety in the future, the first one available is the Commercial UAS Training - Level 1. This course aims to provide “a solid baseline for pilot skills and knowledge, ideal for enterprises to incorporate as a standard part of upskilling existing employees or onboarding new ones to use drones as daily tools”. To begin with, students will have to complete a foundation building online course, a basic flight training with a Tello drone, and an on-site flight training, which includes a live demonstration, comprehensive flight operations, equipment maintenance, and reacting to emergency situations. After completing the training course, consisting of a theory exam and practical test, students will receive a certificate as a recognition of UAS application competence.

Priced at $1799, the course starts in June 2019 at all eight training centers, and will last for 3 days. To learn more about the UTC program, the team will be DJI booth #811 at AUVSI Xponential from April 30th to May 2nd.