A two-day course at SIU-Carbondale next month will allow drone operators to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification to operate unmanned aircraft systems.
Michael Robertson is an associate professor in Aviation Management and Flight. He says the course will cover all of the different subject areas on the test.
"Some of the subject areas is regulations, air space, weather, physiology, even loading and performance, and then maintenance, what types of inspections are required and those types of things."
Robertson says another important area is covering where drones are allowed to operate.
"Last year we saw a drone operating in the Southern Illinois Airport air space. When they start getting that close to fixed wing aircraft, then it obviously makes us a little nervous."
He says drones are becoming more popular and used in ways that we didn't anticipate.
"So, agriculture has a big demand for drones. They can fly over different areas and fields and look at things that they weren't able to before. They are used for aerial photography."
The course is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on November 12th and 13th at the Transportation Education Center at the Southern Illinois Airport. The registration deadline is November 4th.
Registration options are available at http://conferenceservices.siu.edu/conferences/unmanned-aircraft-systems-certification.php.