A new business that recently opened at Festus Memorial Airport offers drone flying instruction for people wanting to make flying drones a profession.
A separate track will teach drone skills to kids, too.
“It’s our first Airversity Drone Academy,” said Bronwyn Morgan, chief executive of the academy. “We will open three or four more around the country. This is the center of our operations. People from all over the country will be coming here for training and instruction.”
Airversity Drone Academy Center of Excellence-St. Louis opened July 13 with a “launch” for the public.
Several dignitaries turned out for the opening of the new business at the airport, 900 Airport Road, in Crystal City.
Morgan said the business is expected to become a destination for professional drone operators in both the commercial and private safety sectors.
Students will receive instruction to prepare for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) exam, drone flight training, geographic information system classes, sensor and software training, and equipment testing procedures for unmanned aerial vehicles and advanced aerial mobility.
The academy also provides instruction for youngsters.
“From cradle to grave, we’re going to teach you how to fly drones,” Morgan said.
She said all classes will be taught by aviation professionals and experts with military, academic and field-based experience.
In all the training, the point is to teach the safe operation of drones, she told those assembled on July 13.
“I’m very focused on safety,” Morgan said. “These things are not toys.”
Randy Ottinger, FAA safety program manager, attended the grand-opening event and said he supports any effort to improve flying safety.
“The idea always at the FAA is to keep everyone safe,” he said. “That’s our goal. We want people to fly drones under the rules.”
Paul Karasek, Festus Memorial Airport director, said he welcomes Airversity Drone Academy to the facility and feels the drone instruction will co-exist well with the planes flying in and out of the airport.
“We’re all for it,” Karasek said. “We just have to have good communication between the academy and airport. These are professional drone people. It won’t affect our operations.”
He said he sees the business as a boon to the Festus-Crystal City area.
“It’s got to help the community,” Karasek said. “They’ll bring people in from all across the Midwest to learn to professionally fly drones.”
Festus Fire Department Chief Kevin Cremer, who attended the grand opening, said his department does not own a drone but believes drones could be useful tools for emergency responders.
“We had a train derailment (on Aug. 10, 2020, near the Larry G. Crites Memorial Park) and one of the police officers had a personal drone,” Cremer recalled. “It came in handy to find the end of the train. I definitely see where this can have benefits.”
He said the department would need to do more research about insurance costs and other issues before committing to purchase a drone.
For more information about the Airversity Drone Academy Center of Excellence, visit airversity.com.