Drone Training in Montana
On-site drone training in Montana for crews in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and Kalispell, taught by FAA Certified Flight Instructors who travel to you.
Drone Universities Courses
5.00 (20K+ Joined)
FAA Part 107 Training
Prepare yourself for the FAA Part 107 Knowledge Test. Learn to fly, how to understand industry-standard flight systems, and most importantly, safe and legal flying practices. If you do not pass the FAA Part 107 exam after completing our training, we will either refund your training fee or retrain you at no additional cost.
DJI Mini 4K included!
Duration
$2,500
4.79 (5.4K Joined)
Advanced Aerial Inspections and Cinematography
This one-day course teaches you advanced aerial photography and videography. All classes are taught by working professionals. Learn what it takes to get great shots for clients like Discovery Channel and National Geographic.
Duration
$1,000
4.96 (2.6K Joined)
This one-day course teaches you all about GIS. You will learn everything you need to successfully collect usable data on your flights. We’ll guide you through planning and flying successful operations, programing flight patterns.
Duration
$1,000
4.87 (1.6K+ Joined)
Drones in Agriculture
Join Drone Universities’ one-day Drones in Agriculture course. Learn precision flights, multispectral imaging, and field methodology to boost crop yield. Sign up now!
Duration
$1,000
4.82 (2.6K Joined)
Drones for Public Safety and Transportation
Learn to use drones for infrastructure inspection and planning. Our one-day course improves public safety and transportation by saving time, money, and resources.
Duration
$1,000
Drone Training Across Montana’s Mountains and Plains
Montana pilots work in two very different landscapes. West of the Continental Divide, crews in Missoula, Kalispell and Bozeman fly in narrow valleys where mountain wind, sudden gusts and summer wildfire smoke can close a flying window in minutes. East of the Rockies, Billings teams operate under Class C airspace, while ranch, energy and rail crews cover huge stretches of wheat and grassland.
A Montana course starts with the knowledge areas the FAA tests on the Part 107 Knowledge Test: reading sectional charts, airspace classes, density altitude, weather reports, loading and radio phraseology. Your instructor then takes the group outdoors for supervised flights on your property and works through mission plans for the places you actually fly.
Students range from photographers and outfitters to utilities, mines, ranches, engineering firms and county governments, and from first-time candidates to certificate holders who want mapping or inspection practice. Montana’s rules on drone evidence, hunting and Fish, Wildlife and Parks sites are part of the syllabus.
What Montana Crews Gain from Drone Universities
Drone courses since 2014
Drone Universities opened in 2014 and has spent every year since teaching drone pilots in person, with FAA regulations and real flying side by side.
Your Montana site, not a distant classroom
Montana distances are long, so the instructor drives to your shop, ranch or office instead.
FAA Certified Flight Instructors
Each Montana course is led by an FAA Certified Flight Instructor who teaches weather, charts and judgment with the same discipline used for airplane students.
Scenarios from Big Sky work
Practice can follow your own jobs: calving checks, fence and water surveys, power line patrols, stockpile measurements at a mine or burn-area mapping after a wildfire.
Simple to arrange
Request a course online or call 1.818.255.0406, and we will settle the dates, the curriculum and a flight area that suits your Montana location.
Montana Cities Where Our Instructors Teach
Montana courses are regularly planned for teams in and around:
Billings
Yellowstone County energy, healthcare, rail and construction clients beneath the Class C airspace at Billings Logan International Airport.
Missoula
University, forestry and wildland fire clients near the Class D airspace at Missoula International Airport.
Bozeman
Technology, research and real estate clients in the Gallatin Valley near the Class D airspace at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.
Great Falls
Grain, utility and public sector clients near the Class D airspace at Great Falls International Airport.
Helena
State agency, engineering and survey clients in the capital near the Class D airspace at Helena Regional Airport.
Kalispell and the Flathead Valley
Construction, timber and tourism clients near the Class D airspace at Glacier Park International Airport.
Based in Butte, Havre, Miles City or another Montana town? Contact our team and we will set up a course where you work. If your crews also fly in a neighboring state, see our Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota drone training pages. Request a course location »
How Montana Industries Put Drones to Work
- Ranching and grain. Cattle ranches and wheat, barley and pulse growers check pasture, stock tanks, fences and crop stands from the air instead of spending a day on horseback or in a pickup.
- Spray drones. Applying crop protection products by drone moves beyond Part 107 into FAA Part 137 agricultural aircraft rules, and state pesticide licensing sits on top of that. We explain how those layers fit together.
- Forestry and wildfire recovery. Timber companies and consulting foresters map stands, survey burn scars and plan replanting on steep ground.
- Mining and energy. Mine operators, eastern Montana oil producers and wind developers measure stockpiles and inspect pads, turbines and haul roads.
- Utilities and rail. Electric cooperatives, hydro operators and railroads inspect lines, substations, dams, bridges and track across remote corridors.
- Public safety. Sheriff’s offices, search and rescue units and fire agencies fly drones to search river corridors and backcountry, document crash scenes and track fire perimeters. Our police drone training programs go further into those missions.
Choose the industries that match your Montana operation and the field exercises will follow them. Organizations with several crews can book our corporate drone training to blend certification prep with job-specific flying.
Montana Drone Rules Every Pilot Should Know
- Class C at Billings. Billings Logan International Airport is surrounded by Class C airspace. Before a Part 107 flight inside it, get FAA authorization, typically through LAANC or FAA DroneZone.
- Class D towers. Bozeman Yellowstone International, Great Falls International, Helena Regional, Glacier Park International near Kalispell and Missoula International each sit inside Class D airspace. Check the Chart Supplement for each tower’s hours of operation.
- Drone evidence. Under MCA 46-5-109, information gathered by a drone cannot be used as evidence in a Montana prosecution unless it was collected under a search warrant, a judicially recognized warrant exception, or while investigating a motor vehicle crash on a public roadway.
- Hunting. MCA 87-6-208 treats drones as aircraft. It bars using one to spot game for a hunt within 24 hours, to drive or stir up game animals or birds, or to tell hunters where game is, with limited exceptions such as emergencies and search and rescue.
- FWP lands. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks public use rules prohibit launching or operating an unmanned aerial vehicle from or on a state park, wildlife management area or fishing access site unless the department has given permission.
- Tribal lands. Montana includes several Indian reservations. Ask the tribal government for permission before any flight over reservation land.
- National Park Service sites. Glacier National Park, the Montana side of Yellowstone, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site and Big Hole National Battlefield all follow National Park Service policy, which bans launching, landing or operating drones there except in limited, approved cases.
This summary is general information, not legal advice. Before each Montana flight, recheck FAA, state, tribal and local requirements and any temporary flight restrictions, especially wildfire restrictions in summer, and get the landowner’s permission.
Three Steps to a Montana Drone Course
- Tell us about the crew. Send the request form or call with your Montana location, the number of pilots, their experience and the weeks that work best.
- Get a tailored plan. We match an instructor, propose a curriculum and review airspace, terrain and a safe flight area at your site before the first class.
- Train at home base. The instructor runs ground school and supervised flights on your property, in the altitude, wind and weather your team flies in.
Bring Drone Training to Your Montana Team
From a Billings office to a Flathead Valley job site or a ranch on the eastern plains, the course travels to you.
Have a question before booking in Montana? Phone 1.818.255.0406, write to info@droneuniversities.com or reach us through the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Montana drone pilot need an FAA certificate for paid work?
Yes. Any flight for business or pay in Montana is covered by the FAA’s Part 107 rule. The pilot in command must pass the FAA knowledge test to earn a Remote Pilot Certificate, and the aircraft must carry an FAA registration. The FAA’s page on becoming a certificated remote pilot walks through the process, and our Montana courses prepare you for the exam.
What Montana laws apply to drones?
Montana limits when drone information can be used as evidence, treats drones as aircraft under its hunting laws, and FWP rules require permission to fly from state parks, wildlife management areas and fishing access sites. The FAA still regulates the airspace.
Can I fly near Billings, Bozeman or Missoula?
Near the airports, only with FAA authorization. Billings has Class C airspace, and five other Montana cities have Class D airspace. Approved altitudes close to the runways can be low, so the course shows you how to read FAA facility maps and request access.
Can I fly in Glacier National Park or a Montana state park?
Glacier is a national park, and NPS policy bans drone launches, landings and flights there except in limited, approved cases. Montana state parks are FWP public use sites, where drones need department permission.
Can the instructor come to our ranch or job site?
Yes. Montana courses run at offices, shops, mines, ranches and public safety facilities, and we can help find open space to fly if yours is tight.
How do we schedule Montana drone training?
Fill out our course request or call 1.818.255.0406, and we will confirm the instructor, course, location and dates for your Montana group.
