I had the pleasure this week of participating in 2nd Order Effect's first civilian drone training class - and boy - was it an experience. My takeaways from this weekend's training.
First off, Tennessee is OP on its beauty stat- it's unfair, and the devs need to fix it. The rolling hills, farmhouses, and barns look straight out of a storybook. On top of that, I'm struck by how many innovative companies like 2OE are based there. There are a ton, and it makes sense why once you get out there. The trip was as easy on the eyes as it was to book. I was checking Zillow before I even pulled into the training facility.
Polecat Training Center is Disneyland for men. It has a full race track, which was a treat for someone like me who grew up watching Top Gear. They'll also begin adding long-range and tactical shooting facilities. Combine that with the drone training, and this place is the trifecta of awesome.
Day 1
After arriving, I jumped into the classroom and met the other students. The group ranged from early 20s to 60s, with diverse backgrounds and experience levels. There was a mix of civilian and active-duty military there. We had five civilian students, including one dirty civilian - Drew of Dirty Civilian, as well as several members of an active-duty unit from the US Army. Even in an entry-level course, comparing military SOPs to civilian flying was valuable.
Training started with some basic info - how drones work, different types, etc.- and then got into the nitty-gritty of the 5-inches we would be flying that weekend. We covered essentials—pairing, setup, charging LiPO batteries—things that would have tripped me up if I learned solo.
Then came the simulator. The sim was humbling. I did nothing but crash for maybe 15 minutes before finally getting about 2 feet and then crashing. Eventually, though (with the help of the instructors), I was able to make some (ugly) turns and not immediately crash. Once I got to that point, they whisked me and a few others outside to try flying on a micro drone, then more sim time, and finally, on day one, we went up on our 5 inch drones.
Training ramped up: sim, fly, learn, repeat. It wasn't easy, but we packed in a full 8 hours. End of day 1 we grabbed dinner, which was a ton of fun. After dinner, we hit the sim again before calling it a night.
Day 2
by day 2, we were all comfortable in the air. The theme of the day was "Hell Yeah."
"I just landed softly for the first time."
"Hell yeah."
"What're you doing?"
"Flying through that window."
"Hell yeah."
"That dude just made it around the track."
"Hell yeah."
It was just a series of wins. No matter our background, age, or job, we all got comfortable in the air by the end of Day 2.
To fly a drone, is to crash a drone - it's an iron law. We had a ton of crashes that day too. Luckily those were now training aides. We spent time learning to swap out busted parts and solder in new ones, and then reconfigure the drone so that it could once again fly. I can tell you that that alone will pay for itself in crashed drone costs rolling forward.
We capped with a demo of 2OE's new drone. None of us were quite ready for it—yet—but we had the skills to get there. You will, however, be hearing more about this drone in the coming weeks.
I got home with my drone, goggles, and controller - I've spent a few more hours in the sim and already improved a ton, and I'll be flying again later today. Overall, this was an incredible experience, and I have no qualms recommending it to everyone. It'll make you a better pilot as well as protect your investment in your private Air Force.
If you're interested in this type of training, hit the "notify me when available" button at this link, so you can get informed when our next class is announced in a few months.
