Commercial Drone Training

Five industry-specific specialty tracks. Choose the work you want to do and learn exactly how to do it — the tools, the workflows, the deliverables, and the business side.

  • 5 specialty tracks — stack as many as you want
  • Real workflows, real equipment, real career outcomes
  • Lifetime access included on every track
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Turn Your Certificate Into a Career

Earning your FAA Part 107 certificate tells the government you know the rules. Commercial Drone Training tells clients you know what you're doing. Those are two very different things — and the gap between them is where most new commercial pilots struggle.

Our Commercial Training program is organized into five specialty tracks, each focused on a specific industry where drone services are in active demand. Each track is built around the workflows real clients pay for: the shot types, the data formats, the software tools, and the deliverable standards that separate professional work from amateur footage. We also cover the business side of each track — how to price your services, find clients, structure contracts, and handle the insurance and liability questions every commercial operator faces.

You can enroll in a single track that matches your target market, or stack multiple tracks to build a more versatile commercial portfolio. All tracks include instructor access, downloadable resources, and lifetime access to updates — because the tools and market expectations in commercial drone work evolve quickly.

Recommended prerequisite: FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Some tracks (especially Real Estate and Film) can be started alongside your Part 107 study since they focus on operational skills rather than regulatory knowledge. Check with an advisor if you're unsure.

Specialty Tracks

Five focused programs built around industries that hire drone pilots.

Real Estate Aerial Photography

Real estate is the single largest market for commercial drone photography. Brokerages, individual agents, and property developers all need aerial listing content — exterior flyovers, neighborhood context shots, virtual tour components, and twilight photography for luxury listings. This track covers the complete real estate aerial photography workflow, from pre-flight site planning to final MLS-ready deliverables.

Tools & Equipment Covered

  • DJI Mavic 3 and Air 3 — real estate workflow
  • Adobe Lightroom — color grading for exterior property shots
  • Adobe Premiere Pro — listing video editing
  • Matterport integration for 3D virtual tours
  • Sun position apps for golden-hour planning

Career Outcomes

  • Freelance real estate photographer
  • In-house drone operator for real estate brokerage
  • Property marketing media company
  • Vacation rental photography specialist

What You'll Learn

Shot planning and composition for residential vs. commercial listings. MLS image and video delivery standards. Pricing models — per-listing vs. subscription retainers. Managing client expectations and revision workflows. Building a real estate photography portfolio. Liability insurance for real estate aerial work.

Cinematic & Film Production

Drone cinematography for television, independent film, commercial advertising, and social media content creation is a growing specialty that demands a different skill set than standard photography. This track covers the movement techniques, camera settings, and post-production workflows that make drone footage look deliberate and professional rather than choppy and amateurish. You'll learn to fly for the edit.

Tools & Equipment Covered

  • DJI Inspire 3 and Mavic 3 Cine — cinematic profiles
  • DLog-M and D-Cinelike color profiles
  • DaVinci Resolve — color grading for cinema
  • Adobe Premiere Pro — film editing workflow
  • ND filter selection and exposure management

Career Outcomes

  • Drone operator for film and TV productions
  • Commercial advertising aerial cinematographer
  • Documentary and event coverage operator
  • Social media content creator (YouTube, Instagram)

What You'll Learn

Cinematic movement vocabulary — reveal, orbit, tracking, dive. Manual camera settings for log footage. Color grading from flat profiles to broadcast-ready color. Coordination with film production teams and directors. Union vs. non-union productions — what you need to know. Rates, contracts, and working with a production company.

Infrastructure Inspection

Bridges, cell towers, power lines, rooftops, wind turbines, and pipelines — all require regular inspection, and drone operators who can deliver structured, documented inspection data are in high demand from engineering firms, insurance companies, and utilities. This track covers close-proximity inspection flying, defect documentation standards, and how to deliver data that engineers can actually use.

Tools & Equipment Covered

  • DJI Matrice 30T and Zenmuse cameras — inspection platforms
  • Thermal imaging for structural defect detection
  • DJI Pilot 2 — automated inspection routes
  • DroneDeploy — inspection data management
  • Defect annotation and reporting software

Career Outcomes

  • Infrastructure inspection contractor
  • In-house operator for utility company
  • Insurance damage assessment specialist
  • Rooftop and solar panel inspection service

What You'll Learn

Close-proximity flying techniques for confined structures. Thermal camera interpretation for electrical and structural defects. Automated inspection route planning and execution. Inspection report formatting for engineering clients. Safety protocols for tower and power line proximity operations. Pricing inspection contracts — per-asset vs. day rate models.

Photogrammetry & Mapping

Photogrammetry — generating precise 2D orthomosaics and 3D point clouds from drone imagery — is one of the most technically demanding and highest-paying commercial drone specialties. Construction progress documentation, land surveying support, volume calculations for aggregate stockpiles, and terrain modeling all depend on photogrammetric data. This track builds your skills from flight planning through final deliverable.

Tools & Equipment Covered

  • DJI Phantom 4 RTK — survey-grade positioning
  • Ground Control Points (GCPs) — placement and survey
  • Pix4D Mapper — 2D/3D processing pipeline
  • DJI Terra — automated mission and processing
  • QGIS and ArcGIS — spatial data output integration

Career Outcomes

  • Drone surveying subcontractor for engineering firms
  • Construction progress documentation specialist
  • Land surveying support operator
  • Mining and aggregate volume calculation service

What You'll Learn

Photogrammetric mission planning — overlap, altitude, GSD. GCP placement for survey-grade accuracy. Processing in Pix4D and DJI Terra from raw images to deliverables. Volume calculation workflows for stockpile measurement. Reading and interpreting accuracy reports. Deliverable formats for engineering and surveying clients — orthomosaic, DTM, DSM, point cloud.

Agricultural Drone Operations

Agriculture is one of the fastest-growing sectors for commercial drone services, driven by the economics of precision agriculture. From NDVI crop health analysis to variable-rate pesticide application with spray drones, agricultural operators are building sustainable businesses serving farms of all sizes. This track covers both the data collection side (multispectral mapping for crop health) and the application side (precision spraying with agricultural drones).

Tools & Equipment Covered

  • DJI Agras T50 — agricultural spray drone
  • DJI P4 Multispectral — NDVI and crop health imaging
  • Agras Planning App — automated spray missions
  • DJI SmartFarm — field management platform
  • NDVI data interpretation tools

Career Outcomes

  • Independent agricultural spray service operator
  • Crop health scouting and reporting service
  • In-house ag drone operator for large farming operation
  • Ag drone services for cooperatives and farm bureaus

What You'll Learn

Multispectral mission planning and NDVI data collection. Interpreting crop health maps and identifying problem areas. Agricultural spray drone operation — calibration, tank mixing, obstacle avoidance in fields. Variable rate application workflows. Regulatory compliance for pesticide application by drone (EPA and state requirements). Building relationships with ag retailers and farm advisors for client referrals.

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What's Included in Every Track

Each specialty track is a complete program — not just a collection of videos.

Video Instruction by Active Commercial Operators

Led by working DTS instructors who operate in these specialty markets — not generalists reading from a script.

Equipment & Software Walkthroughs

Hands-on demonstrations of the specific tools used professionally in each industry — camera settings, software workflows, and field procedures.

Client Deliverable Templates

Real examples of the output formats clients pay for — edited photo packages, video specs, inspection reports, processing output files.

Pricing & Business Guides

Market rate research, pricing frameworks, contract templates, and client acquisition strategies for each specialty sector.

Insurance & Liability Reference Guide

What commercial liability coverage you need, how to find aviation-specific UAS insurance, and how to structure certificates of insurance for clients.

Portfolio Development Guide

Step-by-step guidance on building a client-ready portfolio from scratch — even when you have no paid work yet.

Instructor Q&A Access

Ask DTS track instructors questions about your specific equipment, market, or projects directly.

Lifetime Access

Commercial drone markets and software tools evolve. Your track enrollment includes all future updates and additions.

Ready to Build a Commercial Drone Business?

Enroll in one specialty track or bundle multiple tracks to build a diverse commercial portfolio. Contact us to discuss which tracks match your market and goals — our advisors can help you put together the right combination.

Per-track and bundle pricing Contact for pricing Multi-track bundles available — contact us for options
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Recommended: FAA Part 107 certificate is recommended before or alongside enrollment. Don't have it yet? Start with our Part 107 Prep course.