Drone pilot

Becoming a commercial drone pilot

The road to a commercial pilot’s licence is a well-worn path. The challenge of accruing flight hours and passing exams is nothing new to aspiring aviators and the rules, governance and education standards have been relatively bedded down for decades. Now, the phenomenal growth of remotely piloted aircraft systems, or ‘drones’, has seen the rise of a new breed of pilots and with that a new set of needs, benefits and challenges.

The Rules

Despite the protests of some, the term ‘drone’ has become the broadly accepted name for remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). The CASA website now uses the terminology “drones/remotely piloted aircraft” and even those outside the industry are able to comprehend the meaning of drone as opposed to some ambiguous acronym. However, regardless of the name, the rise of drones represents the most rapid growth in numbers in the aviation sector in memory.