Drone Regulations: What You Need to Know Before You Fly - 010

 Drone regulations are becoming more complicated by the minute. In this article we will dispel some of the misconceptions and outline what you need to know to fly legal and safe. Regulators, along with industry participation, develop a basic framework of rules, then as issues arise, like accidents and incidence, regulations are expanded to meet the new need. However, regulations are not born with the simple stroke of a pen, it consists of a process of establishing a Noticed of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), allowing the public to comment and regulators respond to comments way before a regulation makes it to the books.

Much of our discussion will center on recreational drone pilots. However, we will encapsulate the resources necessary for those wanting to make money with their drone by earning commercial Remote drone Pilot certification (a.k.a. Part 107, as in the regulation covering the topic, certification). 

 

Due to the mass of folks flying in places where they shouldn’t be like, busy airports, above 400 feet where manned aircraft fly (except for takeoff and landing), sensitive security areas (military, national security, natural disasters), over people at large events (sports, music, festivals), just to name a few. 

 

As a result of such infractions the FAA requires that all recreational drone pilots and commercial operators flying recreationally (just for fun, no compensation) are required to take the educational course called the FAA TRUST test. The course covers regulations and safety and should take no more than an hour or two to complete.  Your reward for successfully completing the TRUST test includes a certificate that needs to be retained “on your person,” or easily accessible, in your flight case for example. Feel free to make two copies, frame it, and place proudly on your “I love me wall.” 

 

After taking the TRUST test be sure to go to the FAA Drone Zone and register your drone(s). It cost $5 if you have one or fifty drones, commercial drone pilots are not so lucky, it’s $5 for each drone. On the FAA’s Drone Zone website, it will ask for the serial number of each aircraft and Remote Identification (Remote ID) information (think digital license plate, transponder, or broadcast module. More on this in a minute). If you don’t have a Remote ID number, you will have until September 16, 2023 to comply. Manufacturers where required to have integrated Remote ID installed in their drones on September 16, 2022 (which was pushed up to December 2022, then modified by allowing an enforcement grace period until September of 2023).  The rub for many is that the original cost for an add-on module was estimated by the FAA to be around $50. Sadly, the first approved broadcast module cost $300, but the cost seems to be coming down with a couple of recent entries coming in around $125-$199. 

 

One work around for registration and the Remote ID requirement is for recreational drone pilots to fly sub-250-gram aircraft, no registration or Remote ID necessary. Unfortunately, commercial Remote Pilots take it on the ear again and are required to register their aircraft and equip with Remote ID (by September 16, 2023, as an add-on or purchase a new drone with a manufacturer installed unit). 

 

What are specifics behind Remote ID? As a result of airspace violations (flying near airports, flying over 400 feet, in national security areas, etc.) necessitated, in the FAA’s eyes, the need for tracking drones, including controller location to better track down regulation violators. Remote Identification (Remote ID) rule outlined the parameters of what is described as a digital license plate, transponder, or broadcast module. Manufactures were empowered to develop the technology using WIFI and Blue Tooth that would show a whole host of information but primarily location information of the drone and controller. As one might imagine, this topic has been hotly debated in the drone community with one of the primary concerns centers around security of the pilot. The question being, who will have access to the information, if it’s the general public, security could be an issue in some cases. 

 

If you don’t want to mess with any of the Remote ID requirements, drone pilots will be allowed to only fly in FAA Recognized Identification Areas (FRIA), think R/C parks and educational institution flight areas. A list of FRIA flying locations can be found on the link provided above. If you don’t see one close to your location, an organization can apply to become a FRIA but the FAA states they are only processing 4,000 requests in 2023. 

 

One of the most important aspects to being a safe drone pilot is knowing airspace. If you will, imagine highways in the sky, military airspace, busy commercial airports, and no-fly zones (national security, natural disasters, political figures), just to name a few. A great way to get started understanding airspace is to use the FAA’s B4UFly App (or other similar private industry apps). Some of the same information is available via your flight controller app and may use Geofencing to prohibit further flight into unapproved airspace. After seeing the red “no-go” and yellow “caution” areas, you will become more knowledgeable about the origins of the outlined airspace. However, further airspace education is highly suggested to develop mastery of this challenging subject area. Deep knowledge can allow you access to areas in which an app isn’t able to convey on a screen. 

 

Last, but not least, is to find a mentor, in this age of delivery to the door (maybe even drone delivery to the door), it’s easy to take on this new hobby, or commercial business, in a vacuum. Finding that key person that has experience, or a group of flyers that get together on a regular basis, is a great way to ask questions and learn from others. Additionally, there’s nothing wrong with going all out and earning a FAA commercial Remote Pilot certificate to push your knowledge base even higher, but we are biased because that’s what we do here at the Remote Pilot Association. 

 

 

TC Freeman is the Chief Instructor for the RemotePilotAssociation.com (RPA) and has a passion for helping recreational and commercial drone pilots learn to fly and earn FAA commercial Remote drone Pilot certification through live, hybrid or self-study courses. NEW: We just started our RPA Membership Mastermind Meeting, M3 for short, where we meet online on a bi-weekly basis to discuss drone business, certification and re-currency. 

Join us for our annual JUNE-JULY New Membership “OPEN HOUSE,” a FREE-no obligation bi-weekly webinar where we discuss drone business, certification and re-currency. Email us to RSVP.

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