CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Oct. 27, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017	Oct. 27, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017
Revenue:
Total revenue	$ 72,979,000	$ 65,801,000	$ 151,022,000	$ 100,162,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	44,580,000	35,658,000	90,034,000	61,321,000
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	28,399,000	30,143,000	60,988,000	38,841,000
Selling, general and administrative	13,646,000	12,768,000	25,602,000	24,055,000
Research and development	8,109,000	6,844,000	14,544,000	12,386,000
Income from continuing operations	6,644,000	10,531,000	20,842,000	2,400,000
Other income:
Interest income, net	1,068,000	432,000	1,974,000	944,000
Other income (expense), net	1,291,000	(55,000)	9,679,000	(51,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	9,003,000	10,908,000	32,495,000	3,293,000
Provision for income taxes	1,211,000	3,358,000	3,778,000	137,000
Equity method investment activity, net of tax	(752,000)		(1,354,000)
Net income from continuing operations	7,040,000	7,550,000	27,363,000	3,156,000
Discontinued operations:
(Loss) gain on sale of business, net of tax (benefit) expense of $(114) and $2,463 for the three and six months ended October 27, 2018, respectively	(391,000)		8,452,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(599,000)	(33,000)	(2,449,000)	(1,521,000)
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	(990,000)	(33,000)	6,003,000	(1,521,000)
Net income	6,050,000	7,517,000	33,366,000	1,635,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	7,000	206,000	21,000	229,000
Net income attributable to AeroVironment	$ 6,057,000	$ 7,723,000	$ 33,387,000	$ 1,864,000
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)	$ 0.30	$ 0.33	$ 1.16	$ 0.14
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)	(0.04)		0.25	(0.06)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)	0.26	0.33	1.41	0.08
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)	0.29	0.32	1.14	0.14
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)	(0.04)		0.25	(0.06)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.25	$ 0.32	$ 1.39	$ 0.08
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	23,667,400	23,477,914	23,621,720	23,407,500
Diluted (in shares)	24,098,833	23,832,959	24,059,394	23,715,997
Product sales
Revenue:
Revenue	$ 47,056,000	$ 48,420,000	$ 102,369,000	$ 67,200,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	26,567,000	25,196,000	56,378,000	41,168,000
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	20,489,000	23,224,000	45,991,000	26,032,000
Contract services
Revenue:
Revenue	25,923,000	17,381,000	48,653,000	32,962,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales	18,013,000	10,462,000	33,656,000	20,153,000
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	$ 7,910,000	$ 6,919,000	$ 14,997,000	$ 12,809,000