Telangana Aviation Academy to train students on drone operation

Telangana State Aviation Academy (TSAA) has newly started training students on drone operation at Begumpet Airport, every week for a batch of six students. Post lockdown the academy is geared up to welcome its third batch of students from Monday.

Although it was started a year-and-half ago, the academy could train only 65 students last year owing to the pandemic. It reopened on February 29 and has trained around 12 students till now. The five-day course covers two days of theory and one day of practical operation, with students flying drones at Nadergul Airfield on the other days. After that, the students must take an exam, which they must clear in order to receive the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved Drone Pilot Certificate.

Explaining about the operation of drones, Dinakar Devireddy, head of the Drone Academy said drones are classified into four



categories depending on the size and the weight, namely, Nano, Small, Middle and Higher categories. Drones with higher weights can carry heavy weights and vice-versa.

Dinakar said these drones are used in several applications like agriculture, mining, afforestation, police stations, and many more. “The distance to which the drones can be operated depends on individual drone capacities. 

We have drones which can travel up to 25 km from our surroundings,” he said, adding that the two manufacturing units in Hyderabad currently do not have the technology to manufacture drones that travel for about 100 km.

Dinakar is optimistic that the technology will grow in coming years. Students can enroll themselves for teh course by visiting in the official website of TSAA to learn more about drone training.