Obtaining your Remote Pilot Certificate (FAA Part 107)
DJI Phantom 4 Pro: Not just a flying camera!
While drones can be an amazing tool for collecting aerial imagery, their use can introduce significant risk of injury to both people on the ground and in manned aircraft. In the United States, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulates the piloting of all aircraft including drones, often called UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) or sUAS (small Unmanned Aircraft Systems). The specific regulations for drones is found in Part 107 of Section 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. You will almost always see this shortened to Part 107 by drone pilots.
If you are planning on flying a drone in the United States there are two things you should be aware of:
Your drone must be registered (if it is over 250 grams, which most consumer drones are.)
You may need to be licensed as a remote pilot depending on how you will use your drone.
Let’s tackle that first point: All drones flying in the United States must be registered if they weigh more than 250 grams. This process is super simple and cheap and should only be done at https://faadronezone.faa.gov/
Apparently there are many websites which will happily scam you out of $50 to “register” your drone. The FAA only charges $5 for drone registration, and it is good for 3 years.
Onto the second point: Do you need a remote pilot certificate to fly your drone?
That depends on the intent of your use of the drone. The FAA has a handy online flow chart to help you decide whether you need to know and follow the rules under Part 107. The FAA says:
Remember, the default regulation for drones weighing under 55 pounds is Part 107. The exception for recreational flyers only applies to flights that are purely for fun or personal enjoyment. When in doubt, fly under Part 107.
If you use the FAA flow-chart, unless you work for a government agency, it will likely ask you: Are you flying for business, a commercial enterprise, non-profit work, or for educational purposes (flying and classroom instruction)?
That may be a super simple question for you to answer, but maybe not. Now here’s the thing, if you aren’t sure whether your use of drones falls under the recreational category, it probably doesn’t, and you should definitely know and understand all the regulations required for the operation of your drone (Part 107) by getting your Remote Pilot Certificate. And not just for the sake of protecting yourself from legal repercussions, but because flying drones has the potential to cause injury and damage.
Having gone through the process of obtaining a Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA, I believe I am a safer drone pilot for it. In addition to the understanding of airspace and reading technical weather read outs and forecasts, the FAA wants drone pilots to understand the physics of flight and how various weather conditions like high or low pressure, and high or low temperatures will affect the flight of your drone. It’s also important to understand when and where you can you pilot your drone over people, or even while piloting from a moving vehicle yourself.
Ok, so you’ve read this far, so your planned use of a drone likely falls under the default regulation for drones (Part 107). But do you need a remote pilot certificate? Not necessarily… There only needs to be one remote pilot in command (RPIC) holding a remote pilot certificate per drone, ready to take the controls from whomever is flying. So, if your organization already has remote pilots with sUAS authorizations, you may be able to fly under their supervision. It’s still helpful to know the regulations, and the FAA has a great summary of Part 107 requirements here.
But if your planned use of a drone falls under Part 107 and your organization doesn’t have other remote pilots to supervise, it’s time to get your Remote Pilot Certificate!
The process for getting a remote pilot certificate has two steps.
Make sure you are eligible (16 or older & physically capable of flying a drone safely)
Study for, then pass the Initial Aeronautical Knowledge Test at a PSI exams testing center
That’s it! Once you pass the knowledge test, you submit your application to the FAA and it is processed quickly. It took about a week for my application to be processed and temporary certificate to be issued after submitting my scores. For all the important details and links head to this FAA webpage: https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/become_a_drone_pilot/
The knowledge test is 60 questions, and you must answer at least 42 correctly (70%). I prepared for the test by using the Pilot Institute training which is very detailed and took me about 20 hours to complete. You don’t need to follow a program as involved as this one, but Greg Reverdiau of Pilot Institute is a fantastic teacher and I highly recommend their course if you really want to understand the regulations from both the drone, and manned pilot perspective (in addition to being a professor, Greg has also run manned pilot training programs & centers).
If you’re looking for a bit of a faster overview, Tony Northrup has a 3 hour study guide video on youtube, and a text study guide on his website. I would definitely recommend spending some extra time reading airspace charts (https://skyvector.com is a great web tool for finding your local charts) and weather reports (https://www.aviationweather.gov) if you are solely preparing using this video/guide.
Another great study resource that I continue to use to keep the information fresh in my mind is the DroneU Instagram account. They post a question or two a day to their stories and the correct answer posted the following day.
The Aeronautical test costs between $100 and $160 depending on the test site you choose so I would recommend taking free practice tests and aim for 90-100% proficiency before scheduling your test.
Note: The test and process for renewal is changing a little bit with new night flying content. If you are taking the test after April 6th, 2021 you will want to be aware of the new regulations.
With a few (or many) hours of studying, you’ll be much more knowledgeable about the regulations governing drone operations in the United States, and ready to begin flying your drone for non-recreational uses. Don’t forget to register your drone for Part 107 activities!
What are you waiting for?
Get your remote Pilot Certificate!
If you have any questions about the process, don’t hesitate to reach out via contact form or Instagram!
