Aviation schools prepare for boom in drone jobs

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/12/aviation-schools-prepare-boom-drone-jobs

Aviation schools prepare for boom in drone jobs
By Dave Kolpack
The Associated Press
© December 12, 2013

GRAND FORKS, N.D.

Two student pilots are seated shoulder to shoulder before a bank of video monitors, maneuvering an unmanned aircraft by keyboard and mouse as the drone descends toward a virtual runway in a suburban landscape.

Aaron Gabrielson and Andrew Regenhard, aviation students at the University of North Dakota and self-proclaimed video-game junkies, could just as well be sitting on a couch playing Xbox. But instead of tapping their fingers on a controller, they're learning to fly the plane and use onboard equipment that includes a camera with a zoom lens.

"Some people argue that nothing is going to be like flying an actual airplane. Granted, looking down and seeing you're 5,000 feet above the ground is pretty exciting, but I've always been addicted to video games, and this is awesome," Regenhard said.

Mastering the Corsair simulator is the first practice course for the two trainees, who are among hundreds of student pilots nationwide preparing for jobs that don't exist yet. They and their classmates are eager to cash in on the booming market for drone operators that's expected to develop after more unmanned aircraft become legal to fly in U.S. airspace, which could happen in the next few years.

[CFLDem]

1. I think it will be a niche market.

Most drones will be autonomous, which is good because crash statistics from military use shows it's (surprisingly to some) safer that way.

It would be much more useful to go to school to be a drone surveillance analyst or a drone engineer/mechanic.