About Us The Nation's Leader in Drone Training

Custom On-Site Training

Consulting Services

Open Enrollment Classes

Pilot Management

Our team of professional aviators provide custom private and in-person drone training in over 25 cities across the country.

San Francisco, CA
Inland Empire, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Salt Lake City, UT
Dallas, TX
Houston, TX
Boston, MA
Mahwah, NJ
Raleigh, NC
Atlanta, GA
Tampa, FL
Orlando, FL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Irvine, CA
Austin, TX
Long Island, NY
Seattle, WA
Denver, CO
Charlotte, NC
San Diego, CA
Dayton, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Pittsburgh, PA
Scranton, PA
Washington D.C, DC
Philadelphia, PA
Chicago, IL

Trusted by Top Organizations Across the Nation

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DARTdrones is the leading nationwide drone training company, and a pioneer of drone training in the United States.

DARTdrones offers specialized drone training in over 25 cities, online, and through private training across the country.

The DARTdrones team of over 30 instructors is composed of manned pilots, specialty drone pilots, and sUAS operating public safety officials, providing our clients with the highest quality drone training in the country. 

We offer Basic Flight Training classes, Part 107 Airman Knowledge test prep courses, advanced industry specific training, and UAS program implementation consulting services. DARTdrones has trained over 17,000 drone pilots to date.

As seen on ABC's "Shark Tank"

WHY DARTDRONES? We have a proven track record for training pilots in dozens of industries.

22 QUALIFIED
INSTRUCTORS

Our instructors have manned aviation experience flying airplanes and helicopters and have gained the highest drone piloting recognitions in the industry. Many own successful UAS businesses themselves.

10+ CITIES
NATIONWIDE

As featured on ABC's Shark Tank, we are the nation's leading drone training company with an extensive network of alumni and partners throughout the country.

150+ HOURS OF
MATERIAL

Created and refined by UAS training experts, our curriculum is the best in the industry and has been tried and tested by clients in dozens of industries.

25K+ PILOTS
TRAINED

With a community of over 65,000 drone enthusiasts across the US and internationally, DARTdrones is at the forefront of UAS technology.

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Meet Our Team

Meet our team of expert instructors. When you train with DARTdrones, you’re committing your organization to the best educational aviation experience in the nation. Our elite team of instructors are rigorously inspected, sourced, and trained to ensure the DARTdrones team is comprised of aviation industry leaders.

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  • Aviation Experience

    10 years
  • Expertise

    Aerial photography and videography, Video production, Broadcast media
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    240
  • Pilot Rating

    Airline Transit Pilot, Multi-engine, Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

Jerry White

Airline Pilot & Business Owner
  • Aviation Experience

    10 years
  • Expertise

    Aerial photography and videography, Video production, Broadcast media
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    240
  • Pilot Rating

    Airline Transit Pilot, Multi-engine, Small Unmanned Aerial Systems
Jerry White is an experienced professional commercial aviator spending several years as a commercial corporate pilot, charter pilot, and airline pilot. Along with his manned aircraft experience, Jerry is also a drone pilot, and aviation executive team member. His background as a small business owner, business consultant, and aviation safety manager give Jerry unique understanding of the role of utilizing and teaching sUAS operations. Jerry’s experience as a manned flight instructor with over 4,500 flight hours awards Jerry valuable insight into teaching the complexities of aviation. Jerry also has an expansive background in television production, spending ten years as a professional news producer and videographer.

Jerry currently owns and operates an award-winning media production company in Austin, TX. He has used drones for such clients as the Discovery Channel, OWN network, ESPN, FOX, HGTV, commercials, and two feature films. Jerry has been instructing with DARTdrones since 2016 and teaches FAA Part 107 Test Prep, Basic Flight Training, Aerial Photography and Videography, TOP Level 1, and TOP Level 2. Jerry is versed in flying Inspire, Mavic, Phantom, and Flamewheel hardware and possesses an Unrestricted ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) Certificate – Multiengine, 2 Jet Type pilot ratings, and is a Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument.
  • Aviation Experience

    Sports Pilot for One Year
  • Expertise

    Construction monitoring and photography
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    552
  • Pilot Rating

    Sport and Remote pilot

Alex Abatie

sUAS Photographer & Design Director
  • Aviation Experience

    Sports Pilot for One Year
  • Expertise

    Construction monitoring and photography
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    552
  • Pilot Rating

    Sport and Remote pilot
Alex has more than 20 years of experience as a photographer and design director. He is the owner of Hawkeye Workshop, an aerial photography company serving the film, real estate, and construction industries in Southern California. A long time remote control hobbyist, Alex holds both a Sport Pilot and a Remote Pilot certificate from the FAA. His interests include aerial photography, drone journalism, aerial cinematography, mapping and surveying, and industrial UAV applications.
  • Aviation Experience

    11 years
  • Expertise

    Public safety, search and rescue, FLIR, night operations
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    400
  • Pilot Rating

    Private Pilot- Single engine, Land; Remote Pilot

Chris Grazioso

Operations Lead for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division’s Drone Team
  • Aviation Experience

    11 years
  • Expertise

    Public safety, search and rescue, FLIR, night operations
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    400
  • Pilot Rating

    Private Pilot- Single engine, Land; Remote Pilot

After working 30+ years in public safety, Chris Grazioso is now the Operations Lead for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division’s Drone Team. 

Chris is responsible for flying missions, the team's initial and recurrent training, coordination of emergency responses which include pre and post incident damage assessments and large scale transportation accidents.

Chris is the team lead for the Metropolitan Law Enforcement SWAT Tactical Drone Unit which assists with pre-mission planning, real-time situational awareness, live streaming, search and rescue, and indoor and outdoor suspect searching.

Chris is also a FAAST Team DronePro for the Boston FSDO and on the Board of Advisors and is a Public Safety Technical Expert with DRONERESPONDERS.

Chris's extensive aviation experience includes 11 years as a manned aircraft pilot and 7 years as an unmanned pilot. He has significant experience in all of DJI’s rotorcraft as well as the Delair and eBee fixed wing aircraft. Chris's sensor experience includes EO, thermal, multispectral and LIDAR. Chris's UAS areas of expertise include aerial mapping and inspections, aerial photography and videography, public safety operations, night operations, search and rescue, and indoor flying.

  • Aviation Experience

    13 years
  • Expertise

    B.S. in Systems Engineering from Naval Academy
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    1,900
  • Pilot Rating

    Commercial Pilot - Fixed and Rotary Wing

Matt Bettencourt

Navy UAS Instructor Pilot
  • Aviation Experience

    13 years
  • Expertise

    B.S. in Systems Engineering from Naval Academy
  • Drone Instructor Hours

    1,900
  • Pilot Rating

    Commercial Pilot - Fixed and Rotary Wing
Matt is a contract UAS instructor pilot for the U.S. Navy as well as a helicopter pilot in the Navy Reserve. He has 13+ years of aviation experience and over 3,900 hours piloting military aircraft, including over 1,900 hours instructing on unmanned aircraft systems. Matt is currently the Navy’s lead Contract Instructor Pilot for the MQ-8 Fire Scout, the Navy’s first rotary wing UAS. He also instructs in the Navy’s MH-60S multi-mission helicopter. He has helped train over 900 students in both the MH-60S and MQ-8. He holds his Commercial Pilot Certificate with single engine airplane, rotorcraft, instrument and sUAS ratings. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in Systems Engineering and a focus in robotics and computers.

David Barker

Public Safety Drone Pilot

Aviation Experience

800+ Hours

Pilot Rating

FAA Remote Pilot with sUAS endorsement
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Danny Burk

Private & Commercial Pilot & Drone Business Owner

Aviation Experience

32 years

Pilot Rating

Commercial Pilot - Single Engine Land/Airplane with Instrument Rating
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Randy Eary

Private Pilot, AGI & IGI

Aviation Experience

15 years

Pilot Rating

Private pilot, Advanced Ground Instructor and Instrument Ground Instructor
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Dennis Fisher

Drone Business Owner and Manned Aircraft Pilot

Aviation Experience

3000+ Hours

Pilot Rating

Commercial, ASEL, AMEL, CFII, CFIG, and UAS pilot rating
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Kevin Gillespie

Pilot & Entrepreneur

Aviation Experience

40 years

Pilot Rating

Airline Transport Pilot (ATP)
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Josh Haddad

Helicopter Pilot and CFII

Aviation Experience

15 years

Pilot Rating

CFII Helicopter, 12 years
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Roger Hall

Retired Firefighter

Aviation Experience

8 years

Pilot Rating

Part 61 Sport Pilot with a Weight-Shift Control Rating, Certified Thermographer
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Mark Kurzinski

Retired Naval Officer turned Drone Business Owner and Instructor

Aviation Experience

900+ hours

Pilot Rating

Pt 61 Multi PPT and Part 107
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Bryn LeRue

Public Safety Officer & Public Safety Drone Pilot

Aviation Experience

N/A

Pilot Rating

Remote Pilot
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Michael Martin

Avid Drone Photographer

Aviation Experience

30+ years

Pilot Rating

Instrument rated
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Louis Morales

Thermal Drone Pilot

Aviation Experience

Commercial and sUAS Pilot

Pilot Rating

Part 61, Part 107, and FLIR Level II Thermographer
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Jim O'Keefe

Sergeant Milford Police Department

Aviation Experience

40 years

Pilot Rating

Single Engine Land, Instrument Ratings, Remote Pilot Certificate
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Sean Pagliari

Private Pilot and Patent Holder

Aviation Experience

2 years

Pilot Rating

Private Pilot, Remote Pilot
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Gregory Pratt

Retired FBI, Naval Flight Officer, and Drone Business Owner

Aviation Experience

33 years

Pilot Rating

Private Pilot and former Naval Flight Officer
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Seth Zora

Drone Business Owner and U.S. Air Force Veteran

Aviation Experience

N/A

Pilot Rating

N/A
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Careers

We are always looking for hardworking, entrepreneurial, innovative thinkers and dedicated drone pilots to join our team.

Become a DARTdrones Flight Instructor

Our History

2014
Photo of Abby

DARTdrones Founded

DARTdrones was founded in 2014 by Abby Speicher and Chris Speicher while Abby completed her MBA in Entrepreneurship at Babson College. DARTdrones won several business plan competitions which funded it’s initial launch.

2015

DARTdrones Goes National

After finding success in the Northeast, DARTdrones added 10 new instructors from 10 cities across the country to start to offer courses nationally. 

2017

DARTdrones on ABC’s Shark Tank

DARTdrones experienced exponential growth following a successful pitch on ABC’s Shark Tank. The company surged to 40 instructors, multiple online classes, and started offering enterprise and organizationally level training.

2017

Advanced Training Curriculum

As the industry progressed, DARTdrones wanted to expand into advanced training curriculum and launched multiple new courses including Aerial Mapping and Modeling, Aerial Inspections, and Aerial Search and Rescue.

2018
DARTdrones public safety grants

Launched Public Safety Grant

DARTdrones wanted to help bring drones to more public safety departments and launched the Public Safety Grant To date, DARTdrones has committed over $500,000 in free and reduced cost training to public safety departments.

2021

Launched Drone Training System™

After seeing that a comprehensive approach to training helps ensure new drone pilots and organizational drone programs be more successful, DARTdrones launched the Drone Training System™.

 

What We Do

DARTdrones offers an array of specialized services to ensure your organization's drone program is successful.

Expert Curriculum

25+ Different Drone Classes

Use Case Specific Training

Custom Curriculum Development

Curriculum Licensing

Consulting

SOP Development

Program Manager Guide Development

FAA Waivers

GAP Analysis

Pilot Management

Manager Progress Tracking

Pilot Network

Centralized LMS Hosting

Subcontracted Pilot Onboarding Guide

Partnering Throughout the Industry

AUVSI Global Aerospace Adorama Linked All NATE Airmap Drone Deploy Aloft AOPA

DARTdrones in the News