RALEIGH – PrecisionHawk, Inc. will partner with Wake Technical Community College to provide a hands-on unmanned aircraft system pilot training program, which will be available to FAA Part 107 certified pilots who are seeking to learn how to fly drones for personal or professional purposes.
PrecisionHawk announced the partnership in a statement shared with WRAL TechWire, noting that the program includes the instruction of and practicing of flight maneuvers, target recognition, and data collection, and that the program would not require participants to use their own personal equipment to participate.
The program will take place on a course located at the Southern Wake Campus in Raleigh, and the first course will occur on September 11 and September 12, the company said.
“This program brings a higher degree of standardized education and training to drone pilots that didn’t exist before,” said Jim Slaight, Vice President of Enterprise Accounts at PrecisionHawk in a statement.
There’s an increasing need for career-ready FAA Part 107 certified pilots, PrecisionHawk stated. That’s due to increasing demand for drones–and trained pilots–in industries such as insurance, energy, agriculture, and construction, the company said.
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“While the FAA has issued a total of nearly 900,000 drone certificates to professionals entering the booming industry as of August 2021, many of them lack experience operating drones in real-life situations,” the statement from PrecisionHawk reads.
“This course is imperative for pilots to learn their equipment’s limitations, and the hands-on training will help them operate drones with confidence and safety,” said Ben Wagoner, Instructional Supervisor, Corporate Training Coordinator at Wake Tech. “Drone use is expanding rapidly globally and here in North Carolina, and this partnership furthers our mission to prepare students for immediate employment.”
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