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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the prospective-drone-pilots-are-looking-up dept.

Hot-air balloon pilot Richard Varney typically spends his weekends transporting tourists around central Massachusetts in a huge, multicolored balloon. But on a recent Sunday, Varney drove to a local community college and learned to fly a different type of aerial vehicle. "I want to try something new," he said as he watched an instructor demonstrate how to steer a $2,000 drone equipped with a camera. "This could help me launch a side business taking aerial photos of local towns."

Varney isn't the only one betting on this as a new vocation. At least 15 community colleges across the country now have courses that teach people how to pilot drones, according to research conducted by MIT Technology Review. The trend accelerated over the past year, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rule that requires people who operate drones commercially to take a test and get certified as "remote pilots."

Some four-year colleges and private companies are also training people to be drone pilots, but the community-college programs are particularly interesting because they attract diverse types of students, including adults looking to change careers. In fact, many community colleges offer drone classes through their "workforce development" and "workforce solutions" departments, which are designed to impart practical skills that people can apply immediately to their jobs or use to get new jobs, rather than conferring credits toward a college degree.

No career prospects for drone pilots in private detective agencies or reality pr0n either?


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  • (Score: 2) by http on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:46PM (2 children)

    by http (1920) on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:46PM (#577655)

    It's almost like some people are interested in things that don't have purely commercial utility. Or even maybe no commercial utility.

    How dare they.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:49PM (#577658)

    Isn't that the other AC's point? People will pursue anything they want if somebody else is paying, and that leads to a misappropriation of resources.

  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 05 2017, @10:47PM

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday October 05 2017, @10:47PM (#577678) Homepage Journal

    Oh that's all fine and good if, like AC above implied, they're the ones paying. I know plenty of things that aren't worth a nickle. I didn't demand that you pay for me to learn them though; I learned them on my own time and on my own dime.

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