Drone Pilots

Drones (although many in the industry prefer other terms such as unmanned aircraft systems) are used in a variety of areas. In the next decade, companies will develop many more uses for these handy aircraft. Drones are currently used for:

• crop monitoring
• military operations
• power line inspection
• border patrol surveillance
• filmmaking
• endangered species protection
• package delivery
• aerial photography
• sports broadcasting
• real estate marketing
• oil and gas exploration
• disaster relief
• forest fire detection and fighting
• land and archaeological surveying
• weather monitoring

Typical duties of drone pilots include:

• conducting pre-mission planning meetings with flight directors and/or customers
• developing flight plans, checking any notices of potential flight hazards filed with the FAA, re-checking weather conditions, and coordinating airspace integration with any affected controlling agencies or owners of private property
• launching drones with the assistance of a catapult, by throwing them into the air, or by release from a manned aircraft
• piloting the drone to fulfill the goals of the mission (e.g., military reconnaissance, checking the degree of flooding in a particular area, monitoring a national park for signs of poachers, delivering a pesticide treatment to a field of soybeans, checking the condition of power lines in an inaccessible area, etc.) 
• performing preflight, in-flight, and post-flight checks and procedures
• completing safety risk assessments prior to flight and after action reviews post-flight
• troubleshooting, diagnosing, and repairing drones in the field (for some positions)
• recovering the drone at the end of the mission (for some positions)