Impact of Adoption of New Accounting Standards - Income Statement (Details) - 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:
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:
Gain on sale of business, net of tax	(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:
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:
Gross margin	$ 7,910,000	6,919,000	$ 14,997,000	12,809,000
Effect of the Adoption of ASC Topic 606
Revenue:
Total revenue		1,813,000		(76,000)
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales		363,000		(129,000)
Gross margin:
Gross margin		1,450,000		53,000
Income from continuing operations		1,450,000		53,000
Other income:
Income from continuing operations before income taxes		1,450,000		53,000
Provision for income taxes		383,000		(7,000)
Net income from continuing operations		1,067,000		60,000
Discontinued operations:
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax		(362,000)		(771,000)
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations		(362,000)		(771,000)
Net income		705,000		(711,000)
Net income attributable to AeroVironment		$ 705,000		$ (711,000)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)		$ 0.05		$ 0.00
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)		(0.02)		(0.03)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)		0.03		(0.03)
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)		0.05		0.00
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)		(0.02)		(0.03)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)		$ 0.03		$ (0.03)
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)		23,477,914		23,407,500
Diluted (in shares)		23,832,959		23,715,997
Effect of the Adoption of ASC Topic 606 | Product sales
Revenue:
Revenue		$ 4,745,000		$ (573,000)
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales		2,002,000		(810,000)
Gross margin:
Gross margin		2,743,000		237,000
Effect of the Adoption of ASC Topic 606 | Contract services
Revenue:
Revenue		(2,932,000)		497,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales		(1,639,000)		681,000
Gross margin:
Gross margin		(1,293,000)		(184,000)
As Reported
Revenue:
Total revenue		63,988,000		100,238,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales		35,295,000		61,450,000
Gross margin:
Gross margin		28,693,000		38,788,000
Selling, general and administrative		12,768,000		24,055,000
Research and development		6,844,000		12,386,000
Income from continuing operations		9,081,000		2,347,000
Other income:
Interest income, net		432,000		944,000
Other income (expense), net		(55,000)		(51,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes		9,458,000		3,240,000
Provision for income taxes		2,975,000		144,000
Net income from continuing operations		6,483,000		3,096,000
Discontinued operations:
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax		329,000		(750,000)
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations		329,000		(750,000)
Net income		6,812,000		2,346,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest		206,000		229,000
Net income attributable to AeroVironment		$ 7,018,000		$ 2,575,000
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)		$ 0.29		$ 0.14
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)		0.01		(0.03)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)		0.30		0.11
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)		0.28		0.14
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)		0.01		(0.03)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)		$ 0.29		$ 0.11
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)		23,477,914		23,407,500
Diluted (in shares)		23,832,959		23,715,997
As Reported | Product sales
Revenue:
Revenue		$ 43,675,000		$ 67,773,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales		23,194,000		41,978,000
Gross margin:
Gross margin		20,481,000		25,795,000
As Reported | Contract services
Revenue:
Revenue		20,313,000		32,465,000
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales		12,101,000		19,472,000
Gross margin:
Gross margin		$ 8,212,000		$ 12,993,000