No, drone pilots do not need any sort of medical certificate. Instead, the FAA relies on drone pilots to do a self-assessment on their physical and mental conditions, and to determine if they are fit enough to fly a drone according to a few guidelines. Much like putting a blind man in the driver’s seat
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Depending on who you ask, recreational drone pilots are either way too unrestricted or have been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to regulations. The history of recreational drone pilots has been filled with conflict and ambiguity, and it is only in the recent year that they have been given due
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Both recreational and commercial operators can fly near an airport, but only upon being granted authorization by the FAA through either the LAANC system or the FAA DroneZone website. Even with an authorization, drone pilots need to fly only within pre-defined restrictions. With more than 13,000 airports of various sizes in the United States, being
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By default, drone flight is allowed in local public parks and state parks. However, local ordinances may have already been put in place to restrict or control drone flight. Just to be sure, it’s best to check for drone-related rules in the public park that you intend to visit via the website, phone call, or
Drones
So, you just bought your first drone. Great! You’ll likely spend hundreds of hours flying it in the coming months. However, just like driving a car, you don’t set off on your first drone flight without making a few preparations. An unprepared drone pilot is a dangerous drone pilot – not just to themselves, but
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Both recreational and commercial drone pilots are not allowed to fly their drones directly over people who are not directly participating in this activity. However, the proposed changes to the Part 107 rules may give some leeway to licensed drone pilots soon. Taking an aerial shot of a crowd on the beach or a sports
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Recreational pilots can legally operate their drones at night. Flying at night for commercial reasons has different rules however. Flying a drone at night sounds like a lot of fun. In fact, drone pilots have been doing it for years, which is the reason why the Part 107 restrictions on drone flight at night were
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One of the provisions of the Part 107 remote pilot certificate, which was made apparent back in 2016 when the Part 107 rules were first announced, was that it was valid only for a period of 24 months. Right before the two-year period since the Part 107 rules were put in place passed, the FAA
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The private pilot license, or PPL, reigned supreme among all types of pilot licenses for a long time. Why? As a private pilot, you can fly virtually any aircraft, operate in visual flight rules (VFR) conditions, and add additional ratings such as the multiengine or instrument ratings. Also, you don’t need hundreds of flight hours
AirplanesJust before the year 2019 ended, the FAA released the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the long-anticipated remote ID system for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The FAA had announced plans for a remote ID more than a year ago, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when the drone community reacted with vigor at
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