Drone Training in New Mexico
Drone courses at your New Mexico lab, well site, film set or ranch, led by FAA Certified Flight Instructors who travel from Albuquerque and Santa Fe to Las Cruces, Farmington, Roswell and the Permian Basin.
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 Shaped by New Mexico Altitude and Distance
Between the Four Corners and the Permian Basin, New Mexico crews fly in very different settings. Albuquerque teams work under the Sunport’s Class C airspace, crews in Clovis and Alamogordo operate beside Air Force bases, and energy, mining, utility and ranch crews cover long distances of high desert and mountains. High density altitude cuts drone performance, and gusty spring winds and summer monsoon storms shape every flight plan.
Classroom time covers the FAA Part 107 Knowledge Test topics, including airspace, weather, loading and performance, radio procedures and crew resource management. The instructor then takes the group outside for supervised flying and planning at your New Mexico site.
Our New Mexico students include individual pilots, energy producers, national laboratories and their contractors, film crews, ranches, utilities, universities and agencies. Some need a first Remote Pilot Certificate; others want hands-on mapping, inspection or imaging work. The course also covers New Mexico hunting limits and state park restrictions.
Why New Mexico Crews Choose Drone Universities
In drone education since 2014
Since its founding in 2014, Drone Universities has focused on instructor-led courses that tie FAA regulations to real flying.
We travel to New Mexico sites
Instructors meet your team at the office, lab, yard, set or ranch, from the San Juan Basin to the Permian, so no one has to travel.
FAA Certified Flight Instructors
Lessons come from FAA Certified Flight Instructors, who teach sectional charts, weather and risk decisions as they are taught to airplane pilots.
Scenarios from your field
Exercises can copy your actual tasks, from well pad and pipeline inspection and solar mapping to ranch surveys, film shots and wildfire assessment.
Easy to book
Request training online or call 1.818.255.0406, and we will help you pick the course, the dates and a suitable place to fly.
New Mexico Training Locations
Our instructors can meet your team in communities such as:
Albuquerque and Rio Rancho
Laboratory, manufacturing, film and public agency clients near the Class C airspace at Albuquerque International Sunport and the Class D airspace at Double Eagle II Airport.
Santa Fe
State agency, cultural and construction clients near the Class D airspace at Santa Fe Regional Airport.
Farmington
San Juan Basin energy, utility and construction clients near the Class D airspace at Four Corners Regional Airport.
Roswell
Southeast New Mexico agriculture, aviation and dairy clients near the Class D airspace at the Roswell airport.
Hobbs and Carlsbad
Permian Basin oil, gas and potash clients, with Class D airspace at Lea County Regional Airport in Hobbs.
Clovis and Alamogordo
Eastern and southern New Mexico clients near the Class D airspace at Cannon Air Force Base and Holloman Air Force Base.
Need a course in Las Cruces, Taos or somewhere else in New Mexico? Contact our team to set one up at your site. Cross-border teams can visit our Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas drone training pages. Request a course location »
New Mexico Energy, Film and Ranch Work with Drones
- Oil, gas and pipelines. Producers and midstream companies inspect well pads, tank batteries, flares and pipeline rights-of-way across the Permian and San Juan basins.
- Solar, wind and utilities. Developers, electric utilities and cooperatives map solar sites and inspect panels, turbines, transmission lines and substations.
- Film and media. Productions fly drones for aerial footage and scouting, planning carefully around airspace, people on set and permits.
- Agriculture and ranching. Ranchers, dairies and growers of chile, pecans and hay use aerial imagery to check fences, water and stock, and to scout fields and orchards. NMDA requires a Commercial Applicator license (core and category exams) for anyone applying pesticide for hire, drones included.
- Construction and mining. Builders, survey crews and potash and copper mine operators measure stockpiles, track earthwork and map large sites from above.
- Public safety. Police departments, fire crews and emergency managers use drones to view scenes, support searches and size up wildfire and flash flood damage. Our police drone training programs cover that work in more depth.
We can tilt the course scenarios toward whichever of these fields fits your team. For larger New Mexico groups, corporate drone training adds applied exercises to certification prep.
What New Mexico Drone Pilots Should Know
- Class C airspace. Albuquerque International Sunport has Class C airspace that covers much of Albuquerque. Part 107 operators need FAA authorization before flying there, usually through LAANC or FAA DroneZone.
- Class D airports. Class D airspace surrounds Double Eagle II Airport in Albuquerque, Santa Fe Regional, Four Corners Regional in Farmington, the Roswell airport, Lea County Regional in Hobbs, Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis and Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo. Look up each tower’s operating hours in the Chart Supplement.
- Hunting and wildlife. New Mexico Game and Fish rules (19.31.10 NMAC) make it unlawful to use a drone to spot or locate a protected species and relay its location to anyone on the ground, or to hunt using location information gained from a drone at any time.
- State parks. Under 19.5.2.9 NMAC, a park superintendent may restrict or prohibit activities by posting. New Mexico State Parks’ park restrictions list shows drone prohibitions at Bottomless Lakes, Navajo Lake and Rio Grande Nature Center state parks, so check the list and ask the park office before you fly.
- Tribal lands. Before flying on pueblo or other tribal land, get permission from the tribal government.
- National Park Service sites. New Mexico’s NPS units include Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands national parks, Bandelier, Petroglyph and Aztec Ruins national monuments, Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Valles Caldera National Preserve. Under National Park Service policy, drones may not be launched, landed or operated on NPS lands and waters outside limited, approved cases.
This is an overview, not legal advice. Before flying in New Mexico, confirm FAA, state, tribal and local rules, check temporary flight restrictions and get the owner’s or tribe’s permission.
How a New Mexico Course Comes Together
- Share your goals. Fill out the request form or call with your New Mexico location, headcount, experience level and preferred dates.
- We build the plan. We recommend a course, pick an instructor and check the airspace, elevation and open space at your site so ground lessons and flights line up.
- Learn on your ground. The instructor teaches at your site and supervises flights in the heat, wind and altitude your crew actually faces.
Set Up a New Mexico Drone Course
Whether you work at an Albuquerque campus, a Farmington yard or a ranch on the eastern plains, the course comes to you.
Planning New Mexico training? Phone 1.818.255.0406, write to info@droneuniversities.com or reach us through the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What FAA certificate does a commercial drone pilot in New Mexico need?
A Remote Pilot Certificate under the FAA’s Part 107 rule. You earn it by passing the FAA knowledge test, and any drone flown for work must be registered with the FAA. Read the FAA overview of becoming a certificated remote pilot; our New Mexico course prepares you for the exam.
Are there New Mexico rules for drones?
Yes, a few. Game and Fish rules bar using drones to locate game for hunting, and state park superintendents can prohibit drones in posted areas, as several parks do. Tribal governments set rules for their own lands, and the FAA regulates the airspace.
Can I fly near Albuquerque or Santa Fe?
Inside controlled airspace you first need FAA authorization. The Sunport has Class C airspace, and Double Eagle II, Santa Fe, Farmington, Roswell and Hobbs have Class D airspace. Authorized altitudes near these runways can be very low; the course covers facility maps and requests.
Can I fly in New Mexico state parks or at White Sands?
Check first. Several state parks post drone prohibitions, so review the park restrictions list and ask the park office. White Sands is a national park, where NPS policy bans drone launches, landings and flights outside limited, approved cases.
Can the course be held at our New Mexico site?
Yes. Instructors teach at offices, labs, plants, well sites, ranches, campuses and public safety facilities across New Mexico, and if you lack a safe flight area we will help find one.
How do I arrange training in New Mexico?
Submit a training request or call 1.818.255.0406, and we will confirm the course, instructor, location and dates with your New Mexico team.
