Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Situational Awareness
Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors
My student and I were on short final for Runway 10 at ZZZ when we each observed an unmanned aircraft operating directly above the airport at what appeared to be pattern altitude or possibly lower. It was difficult to gauge the size of the drone from our perspective but I would say at least 6 feet from wingtip to wingtip. We landed normally--we had been planning to fly the closed traffic pattern for a few circuits at ZZZ but quickly decided after seeing the drone to depart the area for the day; which we did without seeing the drone again. We had been monitoring the CTAF since 15 miles out and had communicated our position and intentions for a straight-in approach several times; starting at 8 miles away. No one else had made radio transmissions at ZZZ the whole time. After landing back at [home airport] and concluding the flight; we spoke on the phone to someone at an FBO listed at ZZZ. He said 'the drone people had been asking (him) earlier that morning if (he) could hear them on the frequency;' and he said he hadn't been able to hear them. Obviously we could not either. He suggested we file [this] report.
C172 Flight Instructor reported an airborne conflict with a UAV in the airport traffic pattern.