Impact of Adoption of New Accounting Standards - Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2018	Jan. 27, 2018	Oct. 28, 2017	Jul. 29, 2017	Apr. 30, 2017	Jan. 28, 2017	Oct. 29, 2016	Jul. 30, 2016	Apr. 30, 2019	Apr. 30, 2018	Apr. 30, 2017	Apr. 30, 2015
Revenue:
Revenue	$ 87,930	$ 75,322	$ 72,979	$ 78,043	$ 113,629	$ 54,633	$ 65,801	$ 34,361	$ 314,274	$ 268,424	$ 233,105
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales									185,871	160,739	136,232
Gross margin:
Total gross margin	$ 37,023	$ 30,392	$ 28,399	32,589	$ 50,594	$ 18,250	$ 30,143	$ 8,698	128,403	107,685	96,873
Selling, general and administrative									60,343	50,826	47,642
Research and development									34,234	26,433	28,465
Income from continuing operations									33,826	30,426	20,766
Other income (expense):
Interest income, net									4,672	2,240	1,618
Other expense, net									11,980	(49)	172
Income from continuing operations before income taxes				32,617					50,478	32,617	22,556
Provision for income taxes									4,641	9,800	4,758
Equity method investment loss, net of tax				$ (1,283)					(3,944)	(1,283)	(119)
Net income from continuing operations									41,893	21,534	17,679
Discontinued operations:
Gain on sale of business, net of tax									8,490
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax									(2,964)	(3,887)	(4,601)
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations									5,526	(3,887)	(4,601)
Net income									47,419	17,647	13,078	$ 13,078
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest									19	216	22
Net income attributable to AeroVironment									$ 47,438	$ 17,863	$ 13,100
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment—Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)	$ 0.26	$ 0.35	$ 0.30	$ 0.86	$ 0.80	$ (0.02)	$ 0.33	$ (0.19)	$ 1.77	$ 0.93	$ 0.77
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)									0.23	(0.17)	(0.20)
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)									2.00	0.76	0.57
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment—Diluted
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)	$ 0.26	$ 0.35	$ 0.29	$ 0.85	$ 0.79	$ (0.02)	$ 0.32	$ (0.19)	1.74	0.91	0.76
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)									0.23	(0.16)	(0.20)
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)									$ 1.97	$ 0.75	$ 0.56
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)									23,663,410	23,471,241	23,059,045
Diluted (in shares)									24,071,713	23,813,772	23,307,738
ASU 2014-09 | As Reported.
Revenue:
Revenue										$ 271,052	$ 228,940
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales										162,164	133,755
Gross margin:
Total gross margin										108,888	95,185
Selling, general and administrative										50,826	47,642
Research and development										26,433	28,465
Income from continuing operations										31,629	19,078
Other income (expense):
Interest income, net										2,240	1,618
Other expense, net										(49)	172
Income from continuing operations before income taxes										33,820	20,868
Provision for income taxes										10,177	4,138
Equity method investment loss, net of tax										(1,283)	(119)
Net income from continuing operations										22,360	16,611
Discontinued operations:
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax										(2,508)	(4,154)
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations										(2,508)	(4,154)
Net income										19,852	12,457
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest										216	22
Net income attributable to AeroVironment										$ 20,068	$ 12,479
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment—Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)										$ 0.97	$ 0.72
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)										(0.11)	(0.18)
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)										0.86	0.54
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment—Diluted
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)										0.95	0.72
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)										(0.11)	(0.18)
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)										$ 0.84	$ 0.54
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)										23,471,241	23,059,045
Diluted (in shares)										23,813,772	23,307,738
ASU 2014-09 | Adjustment
Revenue:
Revenue										$ (2,628)	$ 4,165
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales										(1,425)	2,477
Gross margin:
Total gross margin										(1,203)	1,688
Income from continuing operations										(1,203)	1,688
Other income (expense):
Income from continuing operations before income taxes										(1,203)	1,688
Provision for income taxes										(377)	620
Net income from continuing operations										(826)	1,068
Discontinued operations:
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax										(1,379)	(447)
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations										(1,379)	(447)
Net income										(2,205)	621
Net income attributable to AeroVironment										$ (2,205)	$ 621
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment—Basic
Basic, continuing (in dollars per share)										$ (0.03)	$ 0.05
Basic, discontinuing (in dollars per share)										(0.06)	(0.02)
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Basic (in dollars per share)										(0.09)	0.03
Net income (loss) per share attributable to AeroVironment—Diluted
Diluted, continuing (in dollars per share)										(0.03)	0.05
Diluted, discontinued (in dollars per share)										(0.06)	(0.02)
Net income per share attributable to AeroVironment - Diluted (in dollars per share)										$ (0.09)	$ 0.03
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)										23,471,241	23,059,045
Diluted (in shares)										23,813,772	23,307,738
Product sales
Revenue:
Revenue									$ 212,089	$ 191,712	$ 158,924
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales									113,489	109,393	89,039
Gross margin:
Total gross margin									98,600	82,319	69,885
Product sales | ASU 2014-09 | As Reported.
Revenue:
Revenue										195,330	159,630
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales										111,990	88,963
Gross margin:
Total gross margin										83,340	70,667
Product sales | ASU 2014-09 | Adjustment
Revenue:
Revenue										(3,618)	(706)
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales										(2,597)	76
Gross margin:
Total gross margin										(1,021)	(782)
Contract services
Revenue:
Revenue									102,185	76,712	74,181
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales									72,382	51,346	47,193
Gross margin:
Total gross margin									$ 29,803	25,366	26,988
Contract services | ASU 2014-09 | As Reported.
Revenue:
Revenue										75,722	69,310
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales										50,174	44,792
Gross margin:
Total gross margin										25,548	24,518
Contract services | ASU 2014-09 | Adjustment
Revenue:
Revenue										990	4,871
Cost of sales:
Cost of sales										1,172	2,401
Gross margin:
Total gross margin										$ (182)	$ 2,470