You’ve bought a drone and are ready to use it next season. But where do you go from there?

The thought of learning to fly a drone may be enough to keep you from even buying one. However, taking that leap does not have to be scary. With an abundance of drone classes and flying lessons available, you can find what matches your needs.

Apexx Drone Solutions in Montgomery, Ind., has taken that a step further by shaping its drone classes to meet clients at their knowledge and skill levels. The company created two hands-on drone courses, but it alters them to address what their clients need most.

“We know what we need to cover, but we can kind of feel out the people in the class and modify or change the course,” says Cody Garrison, head of sales for Apexx Drone Solutions. “Let’s say somebody is strong in this area but weak in another area. We’ll focus more on where they’re weak [in] to make sure they’re well-rounded.”

What’s covered

The first of the two courses offered by Apexx is a mapping academy. Garrison says this class covers the basics on how to fly drones, map fields and set spray boundaries. This class is for both those who have never flown a drone and are preparing to take the test for their license, as well as those who are looking to improve their drone skills.

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“It teaches you the basics of starting to spray, and then a lot of people go from that class and figure out the rest themselves,” Garrison says. “For the people who want to come back, we also have an advanced spray class.”

The advanced course goes further in depth on how to use the spray routes made in the first course. You also will have the chance to spray on different types of terrain, so you will get hands-on experience. Overall, it expands on the information from the first course.

Aside from molding the classes to what the students need and want to learn, Apexx also will physically meet you at your farm for those classes. This is a service offered for operations looking to train many people.  

A step further

Garrison shares that Apexx will meet with clients to train everyone in their farming operation. They can head out to the farm and train those clients in the same fields they eventually will be flying their drones over.

“If I’ve got a lot of people set up, we can come do a training on-site at somebody’s farm,” Garrison says.

Ultimately, the folks at Apexx are trying to build relationships in the drone community through these courses. Garrison says a question he often gets is, “Don’t you feel like you are training the competition?” To him, they are doing anything but that.

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“There is so much land to be covered with farming,” Garrison says. “We even sometimes contract out work to guys who have bought drones from us and have trained with us. That’s another avenue — guys who have trained with us. I keep them in my back pocket as subcontractors.”

Garrison and his team want their clients to leave the courses feeling ready to take flight in their operations. He says folks will leave their classes prepared to take the FAA licensing exam for drones. Even more, they want to help grow the drone community by churning out capable operators.

“When people leave us, we want them to feel confident and comfortable to do this,” Garrison says.

Classes are one week long, running from Monday through Friday. However, that timeframe can be adjusted to meet clients’ needs. For more information or to sign up for a class, head to apexxdronesolutions.com or call 812-486-2443 and ask for Cody.