The U.S. has acknowledged that motorcyclists make the best drone pilots — BI
American military instructors have reached an unexpected conclusion regarding the professional suitability of drone operators.
Business Insider reports on this.
Although it was long believed that gamers were ideal candidates for this role, training experience with Marines in California has shown that people with experience operating motorcycles or boats perform better.
Major Mike Olivares, who heads the UAV pilot training course, noted that video game experience does indeed help during the simulator training phase.
However, actually piloting drones—especially those carrying payloads—comes much more easily to those who have been accustomed to working with real equipment outdoors since childhood.
The main challenge of training lies in the precision required to operate the switches on the portable control system, which control speed, altitude, and direction.
Olivares compared the required dexterity to the delicate control of a motorcycle’s throttle, which demands an extremely gentle and precise touch.
“If they don’t have personal experience in this field, they’ll still face difficulties. However, if their experience involves technical skills and working outdoors, I’d say that offers a better chance of success than video games,” the major emphasized in a comment to Business Insider.
Course statistics show that over 20% of students fail the program precisely because of issues with sensitivity to the controls.
The problem becomes critical during the transition from simulators to actual flights, where the weight of the munitions drastically changes the physics of the drone’s movement.
Instructors noted that gamers often get used to intense joystick movements, whereas a combat drone requires microscopic course corrections.
The ability to feel the machine, characteristic of jet ski or motorcycle riders, proves far more useful for the survival of the equipment in combat conditions.
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