“When you take the test, make sure you read and understand the question and answers and draw the scenario out,” John David Franz Jr. reminded the incoming high school seniors seated in front of him.
While applicable to almost any testing situation, Franz’s advice wasn’t geared toward the typical exam most students take. Rather, he was helping a dozen or so Sharyland High School students prepare for their remote pilot certificate exam — the first step toward operating drones legally for a law enforcement agency or private company.
The students spent last Thursday reviewing airspace, weather and aircraft performance, all topics on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft Systems Drone Knowledge Test.
As president of S.O.A.R.D. Solutions LLC, a drone operations and consulting firm in McAllen, Franz frequently gives certification courses to working professionals in law enforcement, emergency operations and engineering fields.
