- [Radio] Four four Hotel Golf, we'll be departing in the pattern to the west.

(upbeat music) (drone engine buzzing) - I'm Alan Skipworth, I am a aerospace technician and drone pilot for a company called Workhorse.

I am also a aviation instructor at the Warren County Career Center for their adult drone program.

I always was fascinated with aircraft as a kid.

I was the kind of kid that would always be glued to video games or something like that that would have anything to do with airplanes.

Once I got into high school, I actually went to the high school aviation program at the Warren County Career Center.

And that's kind of when I started deciding I might wanna be a pilot.

Now, once I got into an airplane and at the controls of it, I fell in love with it and I don't think I ever came back down from that flight.

(upbeat music) - Students have the capability to have their career paths and their particular interest in aviation tailored to their strengths and weaknesses, if you will.

The student that's training and earns their certifications for the ATP airline transport pilot rating in general can expect to make around 70 to $75,000 a year based upon the current economy and demand that's needed at the time.

An average technician can earn anywhere from 22 to $27 an hour, if they're licensed, have an A&P license.

If you have the qualifications to be an air traffic controller and you've passed all their testing, then you can expect to start at around $80,000 a year based upon the geographical position that you have.

- [Alan] I went to Sinclair Community College, where I started going through their aviation program, through the professional pilot program.

And through that I've been able to get my private pilot's license, my instrument license, my commercial license, and my multi-engine license.

I'm currently working on my flight instructor license as well.

- Alan's an outstanding student.

I've been very fortunate to take him on as one of my CFI students.

As a flight instructor initial, he can teach private pilot and commercial.

Once he gets his double I, which is instrument training instructor, he'll be able to do the entire gamut.

After two years of flight instruction, then he can take on other CFI candidates and teach them as well.

- [Alan] My ultimate goal is to become an airline pilot.

Working on getting my 1,500 flight hours to do that.

My other career goal is to work with drones and unmanned aircraft systems which I've been pretty involved with right now.

I really enjoy doing that as well.

(upbeat music) - Alan is a remote pilot in command.

He's also an aircraft technician which means his job is to build the drones, verify that they are ready for flight, perform pre-flight checklists, and things like that.

And then he is in complete command of the drone and the crew during operations and testing.

He's shown us kind of more advanced ways of checking the weather, doing pre-flight, post-flight routines and things like that.

Crew resource management, all of those kinds of tasks that are gonna be needed in the future.

- A career in aviation can be a longer career.

There's a lot of training, there's a lot you've gotta do up front but there's ways you can get paid and active with the industry that not necessarily have to be at the controls of the airplane that could help you get to that goal.

And it's highly rewarding in the end.

(aircraft engine hums) (upbeat music)