Hollywood-level individual flying skills are only a small part of what makes Ukrainian drones so lethal to Russian tanks and soldiers, and almost any personality type can become an “ace” operator as long as they’re ready to work hard, nine top-level pilots told Kyiv Post in interviews conducted Tuesday-Wednesday. Watching each unique munition detonation in real-time in color video is an unpleasant but necessary part of the job, and once flight operations are over sleep comes easily, the Ukrainian pilots aged 20 to 53 said. There were no exceptions.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The interviews took place on the sidelines of an Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)-organized fly-off in the western town of Truskavets – pitting 19 drone teams against each other in timed skill tests like obstacle flying, bomb dropping, reconnaissance and intercepting enemy drones in flight. Most competitors were seasoned combat UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) pilots picked from units currently deployed along the 1,000+ kilometer Russo-Ukraine War front line. Some teams were drawn up from drone instructor pilots with years of wartime drone flight experience, now working with training units. Granit bomber drone hovers during a test flight in Truskavets, Ukraine, on May 19. (Image by Stefan Korshak / Kyiv Post)