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Zephyr Drone Simulator Trains First Responder Drone Pilots

Whether monitoring a threat or searching for a victim, officers piloting drones must do so safely first and foremost, and the Zephyr Drone Simulator from Little Arms Studios is designed to ensure exactly that.

March 30, 2018
2 min to read


Any professional pilot relies on the safe confines of a flight simulator to learn and hone their skills, and so should law enforcement and first responder drone pilots. Whether monitoring a threat or searching for a victim, officers piloting drones must do so safely first and foremost, and the Zephyr Drone Simulator from Little Arms Studios is designed to ensure exactly that.

Little Arms Studios, a leading developer of professional-grade simulators for drone pilots, created its Zephyr Drone Simulator to provide a comprehensive platform for sUAS pilots to develop their skills safely and efficiently. While Zephyr's step-by-step curriculum is ideal for individual pilots of any skill level looking to confidently and safely develop their skills, the platform's integrated Learning Management System also makes it an ideal solution for colleges and universities, public safety and disaster relief agencies, as well as professional flight schools training commercial drone pilots.

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Zephyr offers a step-by-step curriculum that will take pilots from the basics of takeoff, flight and landing, to more advanced maneuvers. The program allows users to pilot several popular drone models, and with its accurate flight physics designed for each quadcopter, Little Arms Studios says Zephyr ensures the most true-to-life simulations possible.

Once they've demonstrated proficiency in the basics of flight, pilots can progress to more complicated terrain and tasks, even drilling for unexpected weather shifts and component failures that may occur during actual flights. Zephyr also gives users or their instructors the ability to alter environmental variables and can simulate random wind gusts to prepare pilots for the different types of weather conditions in which they may be required to fly. Ensuring flight safety is also a top priority, so Zephyr features an integrated monitoring system to alert pilots when they are in violation of any FAA airspace regulations.

For drone flight instructors and aviation schools, Zephyr's hallmark Learning Management System is made to be truly unique. In the past, the only way for an instructor to monitor a student's competency was to literally watch over their shoulder during a simulation. According to the company, the LMS allows instructors to seamlessly manage the training curriculum by issuing assignments, tracking students' progress through the curriculum, while quickly and easily pinpointing the skills that require improvement through a comprehensive dashboard and report generation platform.

Available for Windows or Mac systems, Zephyr supports numerous popular controller and transmitter combinations. While enterprise-level packages are available, the single seat Zephyr Professional is available for $99.00 or can be bundled with your preferred controller for $139.99 at https://www.zephyr-sim.com/shop.

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