As drones become more and more commonplace in multiple areas, Mid Michigan Community College is offering a class in drone training that teaches the basics of owning and using a drone. The $1,490 price tag will allow participants to leave with a drone to call their own.
The six-week course will be held at the Pickard MMCC campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting on June 5 and ending on June 21. The class will last from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Admission will grant users access to the 18-hour course, a workbook, 50 sample FAA test questions and a quadcopter drone with a computer flight simulator.
The class is being taught by Robert Guliani, a photography professor at the college. As the co-owner of Guys and Dolls photography in Clare, he has used drones for aerial photography in the past.
That past experience is why they chose Guiliani to teach the course, according to MMCC Associate Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development Scott Govitz.
Topics that the class will cover include how to fly a drone and the regulations that are set in place by the Federal Aviation Administration. By the end of the course, students should be able to get an FAA remote pilot certification.
“If you’re a hobbyist and use the drones for recreation, you still have to have your drone registered by the FAA,” Guliani said. “It doesn’t matter the size.”
The course will also talk about the opportunities for drone use in a commercial setting. Drones have been used for taking photos of construction projects, showing different camera angles in sports games and monitoring large areas of land. Students at the Gratiot-Isabella Technical Education Center have used drones for promotional real estate footage.
“Beyond just personal interest, there’s a lot of individual types of businesses that can use this technology,” Govitz said.
The training is being offered because other colleges are offering the same course. Guiliani said that the college wants people to be able to know how to properly fly and use a drone for professional situations.
The course was developed by SkyOp, a New York-based organization that specializes in drone training courses for educational and professional use. The college partnered with the company to adapt the course to MMCC’s curriculum.
The company also offer courses on drone use for public safety and preperation for the FAA license test.
“We wanted to kick off with this first training for the general population,” Govitz said, “Next, we’ll look at offering some of these training options to the public.”
According to Guilani, the closest place to get an FAA license test is at Jack Barstow Airport in Midland.