As a new year begins, many of us are making New Year resolutions. V1DroneMedia's resolution is to bring the most up-to-date and simple-to-understand drone knowledge to you: information about drone regulations, drone industry, equipment capabilities, flight skills, and other drone information to those interested in learning more about drone technology and getting started in flying drones safely and legally.

A lot of drone pilot schools are focused on education and compliance with the FAA drone laws and regulations and getting the Part 107 Remote Pilot License. And this IS where you should start your drone journey if you are thinking about getting a drone or just purchased one because you want to be aware of where and how to operate your drone safely and legally, avoid any negative law enforcement or 'well-wisher' attention, and can intelligently answer any questions about how and where you can legally fly.  We have covered all these subjects in our blog post A Beginner's Guide To Drones and have regularly scheduled Drone Training Courses that you can attend to learn this information and get ready for the FAA Part 107 Drone Certification Test.

However, learning safe drone operations or procuring your Part 107 Drone Pilot Certificate is only a starting point (one should walk before they run). The essential part of your drone training should be getting hands-on time flying the drone. That means being comfortable with operating the drone apps (such as DJI, Litchi, etc.), performing takeoffs and landings, learning to maintain and calibrate the drone, performing routine flight maneuvers, operate the camera to take pictures and video. These skills cannot be taught in a classroom, and you need them to fly the drone proficiently if you are serious about becoming a drone pilot. You must get out there and learn to fly your drone, just like manned aviation pilots spend hours flying in a simulator or with an instructor before flying on their own (I spent hours and days in simulator sessions during my training as a commercial pilot, and had to do recurrent training every year in a simulator as well).

While flying a drone doesn't come with the liability of flying an aircraft worth millions of dollars with people on board, it is still very important to understand the systems that make a drone work and be proficient with your equipment to ensure safe operation.

A drone is usually needed to shoot an aerial photo or video of a certain subject matter or an object on the ground or even high up in the air, and you need to have skills to fly the drone to focus on a subject, position the camera of the drone to shoot video or photo from different angles while flying around the subject, maybe even track the subject and shoot continuous video or photographs.

Many of these flight maneuvers are built into intelligent flight modes in the apps nowadays, but you would still need to know how the different intelligent flight modes work and become proficient at setting them up and incorporating them into your workflow (if needed). Learning to fly in a manual mode is also very important and can be beneficial in many situations – especially if you would have to manually take control of the aircraft for any reason.

To help fill the gap in hands-on drone flight experience for aspiring drone pilots V1DroneMedia is now offering Drone Operations classes with both classroom and outdoor time for learning the drone apps, flying procedures and hands-on time, and Hands-on Flying Sessions for individuals and groups tailored to individuals' skill levels and goals. If one of your resolutions this year is to explore a drone as a hobby, learn to fly a drone proficiently, or learn advanced drone flying skills to further your drone industry career goals, Contact Us to schedule your session today! And get on an e-mail list to stay informed about our group class schedules.