107 Certification Advice

Jason · Mar 6, 2017

I'd love to chat with anyone who has completed the 107 certification. My company is looking into using drones for inspections and surveying, and I have been tasked with finding out information on the proper certifications. If anyone has any advise on certification training websites or course guides, I'd love to know more.

Thank you.

SteelFlyer · Mar 6, 2017

Jason, I'd be glad to help. Send me a message and I can give you my number. I have just helped provide guidance for my company as well.

AyeYo · Mar 6, 2017

The info on the FAA site is all that's necessary. There is a printable study guide and an online course through the FAA's learning system. Do both and you'll be in good shape. Do all the practice test questions on 3DR until you can get them at 80-90% and you'll breeze through the test.

Real0Sasquatch · Mar 6, 2017

AyeYo said:
The info on the FAA site is all that's necessary. There is a printable study guide and an online course through the FAA's learning system. Do both and you'll be in good shape. Do all the practice test questions on 3DR until you can get them at 80-90% and you'll breeze through the test.

Ill be doing this later

DavidNDC · Mar 6, 2017

Two great threads on the topic by rickeyfitts:

Some help to prepare for the 107 Exam!

&

I just took the UAG 107 exam...

m0j0 · Mar 6, 2017

I took it Saturday.. passed with an 88

Jason · Mar 6, 2017

m0j0 said:
I took it Saturday.. passed with an 88

Congrats. Now maybe you could pass along some of your wisdom. How did you prepare?

kodiak1120 · Mar 7, 2017

For anyone interested, here's a link to a post about my experience taking the test and how I studied:

South Jersey Aerial Photography

Jeffhvac · Mar 9, 2017

I used a mix of many, apps, books, websites, many practice tests.

Everyone is different.

A View From the Clouds · Mar 11, 2017

I just passed my test today.

Make sure you understand weather patterns, sectional charts, METARS/TAFS, and general rules. It's quite a bit to study and learn, so if you don't want to learn it all on your own use an online course.

I used Remotepilot101.com and it completely prepared me.

*Knowledge* · Mar 11, 2017

A View From the Clouds said:
I just passed my test today.

Make sure you understand weather patterns, sectional charts, METARS/TAFS, and general rules. It's quite a bit to study and learn, so if you don't want to learn it all on your own use an online course.

I used Remotepilot101.com and it completely prepared me.

Congrats.

Question for you Part 107 Pilots: Do existing 'Hobbyist' registered drones need to be re-registered with the FAA to conduct commercial work or are the existing registration numbers sufficient?

SteelFlyer · Mar 12, 2017

*Knowledge* said:
Congrats.

Question for you Part 107 Pilots: Do existing 'Hobbyist' registered drones need to be re-registered with the FAA to conduct commercial work or are the existing registration numbers sufficient?

Commercial work requires a commercially registered drone. Your recreational registration number is for you as a person and all of your hobby drones are covered by the smae number. The commercial registration is one number per drone. So all you should have to do is go onto the FAA site and register that particular drone as commercial and label it with the new registration number.

Jason · Mar 12, 2017

SteelFlyer said:
Commercial work requires a commercially registered drone. Your recreational registration number is for you as a person and all of your hobby drones are covered by the smae number. The commercial registration is one number per drone. So all you should have to do is go onto the FAA site and register that particular drone as commercial and label it with the new registration number.

Good info. Thanks. My company is purchasing one for work use and I will definitely register.

*Knowledge* · Mar 12, 2017

SteelFlyer said:
Commercial work requires a commercially registered drone. Your recreational registration number is for you as a person and all of your hobby drones are covered by the smae number. The commercial registration is one number per drone. So all you should have to do is go onto the FAA site and register that particular drone as commercial and label it with the new registration number.

Okay so even if this will be my only drone I'll still have to re-register it as a commercial UAS device and pay the $5, correct?

SteelFlyer · Mar 12, 2017

*Knowledge* said:
Okay so even if this will be my only drone I'll still have to re-register it as a commercial UAS device and pay the $5, correct?

That's correct. Technically according to FAA you can fly a commercial drone for hobby purposes but not the other way around. You just have to "decide" prior to the flight whether or not the flight is for commercial or hobby purposes. I actually document this in my pre-flight checklist in case I'm ever called on it. Of course this also assumes that for commercial flights, you are Part 107 certified.

*Knowledge* · Mar 12, 2017

SteelFlyer said:
That's correct. Technically according to FAA you can fly a commercial drone for hobby purposes but not the other way around. You just have to "decide" prior to the flight whether or not the flight is for commercial or hobby purposes. I actually document this in my pre-flight checklist in case I'm ever called on it. Of course this also assumes that for commercial flights, you are Part 107 certified.

Got it! Thanks bud. I'm currently studying for the part 107 and taking the test in a couple weeks.

SteelFlyer · Mar 13, 2017

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

treytexag · Mar 13, 2017

If you are Part 107 certified- and assuming flight charts allow (correct kind of air space?) - can the 400 foot AGL be exceeded for commercial flight purposes? Or is the 400 foot AGL hard and fast for all drones in FAA regulated space?

Sorry 'bout the noob question.

*Knowledge* · Mar 14, 2017

SteelFlyer said:
Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks! Already feeling pretty good about it.

treytexag said:
If you are Part 107 certified- and assuming flight charts allow (correct kind of air space?) - can the 400 foot AGL be exceeded for commercial flight purposes? Or is the 400 foot AGL hard and fast for all drones in FAA regulated space?

I'm not certified but from what I understand it's 400 feet AGL or, if higher than 400 feet AGL, remain within 400 feet of a structure.

SteelFlyer · Mar 14, 2017

treytexag said:
If you are Part 107 certified- and assuming flight charts allow (correct kind of air space?) - can the 400 foot AGL be exceeded for commercial flight purposes? Or is the 400 foot AGL hard and fast for all drones in FAA regulated space?

Sorry 'bout the noob question.

Don't worry about the question. These boards are about asking questions and learning.

For commercial pilots, the 400' AGL limit still generally applies. You are also allowed to go 400' above an object like a tower or building. So if you using the aircraft to inspect a tower you can legally go 400' above the tower as long as airspace permits it. (As a caveat, you must also stay at least 500' below the lowest cloud level. So if the cloud ceiling is 800', the highest you can fly is 300' AGL.)

To exceed 400' limit in any other situation, you would need to apply beforehand to the FAA for a waiver from the 400' rule for that operation. Waivers can be submitted online but the last I heard they had only issued about 80 out of 800 waiver requests and the requests are taking 60-90 days to process. I know they are trying to speed the process up but it will take a while for them to get all of the things in place to make this easier.