Translates To More Than 300 People Per Weekday Being Certificated

They knew it was going to be popular, and they were right. The FAA is reporting that since they released rules for commercial drone operators on August 31, more than 28,000 people have applied to become professional UAV pilots, and nearly 23,000 certificates have been issued.

Recode.com reports that when you do the math, it means about 300 people have been issued a commercial drone certificate each weekday since the rules were announced ... and it probably took a few days for the first applications to work their way through the system.

But the number of certificates issued, or even the number of applications, is dwarfed by the number of registered small UAVs in the United States. More than 550,000 aircraft have been registered with the FAA since it became a requirement to do so last year. The FAA is registering about 2,000 drones per day, according to the report.

If you're planning to become a commercial drone operator, and you don't already have pilot certificate of some type, you can expect to do a lot of studying, and spend about $150 on the aeronautical knowledge test required for the certificate.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov/uas