UAV Pilot Training

By Kyle Garrett

The road to becoming a UAV pilot is very similar to that of a commercial pilot. First of all, employers are always looking for applicants with the most education, so if you want to be paid at the higher end of the pay scale, you'll need to earn a 4-year college degree in aeronautics or engineering. Some aspiring UAV pilots decide to attend a college that offers 4-year degrees and pilot training programs together. With this route, you'll end up with your degree and usually enough flight hours to apply for an entry level unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) job. Whether you decide to go to college or not, you will need to earn a private pilot license, a commercial pilot license, and an instrument rating, and build up at least 500 hours of pilot-in-command flight hours.

Where Can I Find UAV Pilot Training?

Both the University of North Dakota (UND) and Kansas State University offer four year degree in UAV pilot training and Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Unless you plan on attending UND or Kansas State, after going to flight school and building up your hours, you can expect to learn to fly UAVs "on the job".