AVUSI Certification worthwhile?

Spyglass · Aug 4, 2025

Hi everyone, I am new to the group. I am sitting for the APSA BPERP this week and will also have my Level 1 Thermography this month through Clemson. I am trying to build an inspection/tracking/mapping business and want to make real money using drones. I want to know if the AVUSI is worth pursuing.

My Equipment:
Matrice 4T
Mavic 3
Mini 3 Pro
Avata 2
Insta360 X4

Dave Pitman · Aug 5, 2025

Spyglass said:
Hi everyone, I am new to the group. I am sitting for the APSA BPERP this week and will also have my Level 1 Thermography this month through Clemson. I am trying to build an inspection/tracking/mapping business and want to make real money using drones. I want to know if the AVUSI is worth pursuing.

My Equipment:
Matrice 4T
Mavic 3
Mini 3 Pro
Avata 2
Insta360 X4

I think you meant ASPRS certification ?

AVUSI has basically become a lobbying organization trying to get all Chinese manufactured drones banned in the US.

jaja6009 · Aug 7, 2025

Dave Pitman said:
I think you meant ASPRS certification ?

AVUSI has basically become a lobbying organization trying to get all Chinese manufactured drones banned in the US.

AVUSI has these Trusted Operator certificates that they make you pay a lot of money for.
The college I work at part time thought about going that route, but didn't.

APSA is the Airborne Public Safety Association and offers a course called BPERP (Basic Proficiency Evaluation for Remote Pilots) that uses the NIST bucket courses.

I prefer the APSA course since AVUSI in my opinion is doing DJI and Autel dirty with their prop up Skydio lobbying.

OP if you are working on your own, APSA and AVUSI certifications may or may not matter to clients. You have to make a business plan with all of the usual elements and also scout out potential clients to see their needs. Your fleet of DJI drones is not going to get any federal government contracts and the feds in my opinion like to see these types of certifications.

Dave Pitman · Aug 7, 2025

jaja6009 said:
AVUSI has these Trusted Operator certificates that they make you pay a lot of money for.

Didn't know that. The OP listed he was interested in mapping commercially so I guess I expected them to be looking at certs that would demonstrate competence in that field. Oh well, they seem to have gone missing anyway!