Are there drone schools in Nevada? You bet, and if the governor of the state gets his way there will probably be more in the coming years. The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) is currently trying to attract Unmanned Aerial Vehicle manufacturers, researchers, and entrepreneurs. And frankly they make a pretty good case. You can read about their efforts here: http://www.diversifynevada.com/key-industries/aerospace-defense/uav.
For now, if you’re a Nevada resident and you want to study drones, you should check out the University of Nevada, Reno’s Minor in Unmanned Autonomous Systems.
The goal of this interdisciplinary program offered by the university’s Mechanical Engineering department, is to provide students with the “skills and experiences that will help them better apply the knowledge gained in their majors to specialized problems in the field of UAS.”
Also in Reno, Truckee Meadows Community College offers a 1-year UAS technicians course designed to prepare students to maintain, troubleshoot and repair unmanned aircraft.
The university is also home to the Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center (NAASIC). This is a collaborative effort led by the College of Engineering and was established in 2014 with the help of $3 million from – you guessed it – the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
NAASIC is dedicated to the commercialization of technologies in autonomous systems that goes beyond just unmanned aerial vehicles. Stationary robotic systems, advanced manufacturing systems, driverless cars, and underwater robots, are also in their field of development.
If all goes well, Nevada might just become a major hub in the coming drone boom.
If you don’t need a degree, other training options in Nevada include:
Avisight Drone Academy, based in Las Vegas, offers a 2-day course to get FAA Part 107 Certified, and a 4-day master course with more in-depth drone training.
A flight training center in Las Vegas that is offered by Unmanned Vehicle University (based in Arizona) as part of its UAV Pilot Training Certificate program.
Im the best drone flyer in Las Vegas.I can Beat Anybody I Fly agents i fly a parrot Pf725100 and Trying to improve me skills Thank You.
Robert Vasquez
Quick comment/caveat emptor about the “Vegas Drone School” which is now AVISIGHT. They advertise a “school” with no curricula, no name pilots, and no CFI’s that have UAV experience. They also advertise a “Part 107 Certification” that doesn’t exist.
Further, and most revealing about their hype is that they claim to have nearly 9000 hours of UAV airtime. This is simply impossible, well beyond the realm of time-possible unless they have 1000+ instructors. A full-time UAV operator on an Air Force base can’t even touch this. A full-time, every second of the workday in the air operator, no vacation, no lunch, no bathroom breaks, no refuel, can barely crack 2000 hours in a year. DO NOT trust these no-curriculum, all milk-promise guys.
David,
I appreciate the candid feedback. We have trained hundreds of people with Part 107 preparation and have been proud to say that nobody has failed their FAA exam as of today.
Our instructors have been flying unmanned systems since the early iterations of the first RQ-1 Predator (yes, before it was armed) in the late 90’s, with mission profiles all over the world. Along with that, flight time on the MQ-1, MQ-9 and RQ-4 to name a few others.
In certain realms of the Air Force, our pilots were pushing 12+ hour days in the seat during surge time. We certainly pride ourselves on our service to the country, and our service to the unmanned systems.
Mid last year, we were in talks with the FAA, in particular retired General Marke “Hoot” Gibson on Part 107 implementation training in advance of the August rollout.
We would certainly love to have you in our class, but it seems that you already know everything. Appreciate you checking us out, and my apologies for the delay in responding to this, we have been too busy teaching our zero curriculum to the hundreds of students that have passed.