Drone Training in South Dakota
On-site drone courses for South Dakota teams, taught by FAA Certified Flight Instructors who travel to Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Brookings, Watertown, Pierre and the farms and ranches around them.
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
South Dakota Drone Courses from the Big Sioux to the Black Hills
The Missouri River splits South Dakota into two flying environments. East River crews around Sioux Falls, Brookings and Watertown work over corn, soybeans and growing suburbs, while West River teams fly rangeland, the edge of the Badlands and the forested Black Hills near Rapid City, where Ellsworth Air Force Base has its own Class D airspace. Strong prairie wind, hail and hard winters affect almost every job.
Our classroom portion tracks the FAA Part 107 Knowledge Test: chart reading, airspace rules, weather products, drone performance, radio procedures and crew resource management. Then the class heads outside for supervised flight practice and job planning at your South Dakota location.
South Dakota students include insurance adjusters, crop consultants and cooperatives, ethanol and food plants, engineering and construction firms, tourism businesses, universities and sheriff’s offices. Some are earning a first certificate and others need mapping, inspection or nighttime skills. State rules on drones near prisons, highways and wildlife come up in every class.
Why South Dakota Organizations Choose Drone Universities
Instructor-led training since 2014
Since 2014 Drone Universities has taught drone pilots face to face, tying each FAA rule to something students practice in the air.
Courses at your South Dakota location
From a Sioux Falls office park to a West River ranch, the instructor comes to your site so the crew trains without overnight travel.
FAA Certified Flight Instructors
South Dakota courses are led by FAA Certified Flight Instructors, who teach sectional charts and weather decisions the way flight schools do.
Exercises from your jobs
Practice can follow the work you do, such as crop scouting, hail claims on roofs and grain bins, tower and line inspections or construction progress mapping.
Clear scheduling
Request training online or call 1.818.255.0406, and we will help you pick a course, dates and a safe place to fly.
South Dakota Cities Our Instructors Visit
South Dakota training is regularly arranged for teams in:
Sioux Falls
Financial, healthcare, manufacturing and construction clients near the Class D airspace at Joe Foss Field, the city's airport.
Rapid City and Box Elder
Black Hills tourism, construction and public sector clients near the Class D airspace at Rapid City Regional Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Brookings
University, research and agricultural technology clients in the eastern farm belt.
Aberdeen
Grain, manufacturing and cooperative clients in the James River valley.
Watertown
Lakes region manufacturing, agriculture and utility clients.
Pierre
State agency and Missouri River clients in the capital.
Located in Mitchell, Yankton, Spearfish or another South Dakota town? Contact our team and we will schedule a course at your site. Teams that also work over the state line can use our Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota drone training pages. Request a course location »
How South Dakota Businesses Use Drones
- Row crops and livestock. Corn, soybean and wheat growers and cattle operations use aerial images to spot stand problems, drainage issues and stray stock.
- Spray drones. Drone application of pesticides falls under FAA Part 137 agricultural aircraft rules on top of Part 107. We outline what that adds for spray crews and where to ask about state pesticide licensing.
- Insurance and roofing. After hail and wind events, adjusters and contractors document damaged roofs, siding and grain bins from above instead of climbing.
- Tourism and media. Black Hills lodges, event organizers and marketing teams capture aerial footage on private property, planning around crowds and park boundaries.
- Construction and utilities. Contractors, electric cooperatives and telecom firms track projects and inspect lines, substations and towers.
- Public safety. Police, sheriff’s and fire agencies fly drones for crash reconstruction, missing person searches and flood and blizzard response. More detail is in our police drone training programs.
Tell us which of these areas your crew works in and the course will lean that way. Larger South Dakota employers can choose corporate drone training to mix certificate prep and field exercises.
South Dakota Drone Statutes and Airspace
- Three Class D areas. South Dakota has no Class C airspace. Class D airspace surrounds Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls, Rapid City Regional Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. Ask for FAA authorization through LAANC or FAA DroneZone before a Part 107 flight inside it, and confirm tower hours in the Chart Supplement.
- Prisons, jails and military sites. Under SDCL 50-15-3, flying a drone over a prison, correctional facility, jail, juvenile detention facility or military facility without the administrator’s authorization is a Class 6 felony, and a 2026 amendment lets authorities use countermeasures against such drones.
- Highways. SDCL 50-15-11 prohibits drone takeoffs and landings inside a controlled-access highway, except by a state agency, and makes careless takeoffs or landings in any other highway right-of-way a Class 1 misdemeanor.
- Hunting. Under SDCL 41-8-39, using an aircraft, drones included, to hunt or to locate or spot wild birds or animals is illegal. A narrow exception lets a pilot with the landowner’s or lessee’s permission spot predators or varmints over private land, outside September through November, in compliance with FAA rules.
- State parks. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks park rules allow drones that follow FAA and state law, but ask pilots not to fly over people or campgrounds or harass bison and other wildlife. Commercial filming in a park needs the park manager’s approval or a GFP filming permit.
- Tribal lands. Large parts of South Dakota are reservation land. Contact the tribal government and get permission before flying over it.
- National Park Service sites. Badlands and Wind Cave national parks, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Jewel Cave National Monument, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and the Missouri National Recreational River are governed by National Park Service policy, which prohibits launching, landing or operating drones except in limited, approved cases.
General information only, not legal advice. Before flying in South Dakota, verify FAA, state, tribal and local rules, look for temporary flight restrictions and secure the landowner’s permission.
How We Plan South Dakota Training
- Share the basics. Send the form or call with your South Dakota location, how many pilots, their experience and the dates you prefer.
- We prepare the course. An instructor is assigned, the curriculum is set and we check the airspace and open ground at your site before class day.
- Train on your property. Ground lessons and supervised flights happen where you work, in the wind, temperatures and airspace your crew knows.
Request a South Dakota Drone Course
From a Sioux Falls plant to a Rapid City office or a farm near Aberdeen, our instructors travel to your team.
Planning training in South Dakota? Call 1.818.255.0406, email info@droneuniversities.com or message us from the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Part 107 certificate required for business drone flights in South Dakota?
Yes. Business flights in South Dakota fall under Part 107. The pilot in command needs a Remote Pilot Certificate, earned by passing the FAA knowledge test, and the drone must be FAA registered. The FAA describes the steps for becoming a certificated remote pilot, and our South Dakota course prepares you for the exam.
What are South Dakota's main drone laws?
South Dakota makes unauthorized flights over prisons, jails and military facilities a felony, limits drone takeoffs and landings on highways and bars using drones to hunt or spot game. FAA rules still control the airspace.
Can I fly near Sioux Falls or Rapid City?
Only with FAA authorization inside their controlled airspace. Joe Foss Field, Rapid City Regional and Ellsworth Air Force Base have Class D airspace, and approved altitudes close to the runways can be low. The course covers FAA facility maps and authorization requests.
Can I fly at Mount Rushmore, Badlands or Custer State Park?
Mount Rushmore and Badlands are NPS units, where drones are banned except in limited, approved cases. Custer and other state parks allow drones flown within FAA and state law, but commercial filming needs park approval or a GFP permit.
Will you train at our South Dakota site?
Yes. Instructors teach at offices, plants, farms, ranches, campuses and public safety facilities across South Dakota, and we will help locate a flight area if yours is too small.
How do I book drone training in South Dakota?
Use our training request form or call 1.818.255.0406. We will confirm the course, instructor, site and dates for your South Dakota team.
