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Flights that require operator to have a Part 107 certificate.

Texbow

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Taken directly from the FAA website are two (maybe conflicted) statements concerning the requirement to have a Part 107 certificate. In one place it states you will need a cerfificate if you fly for commercial benefit of either yourself or someone elses commercial benefit. My understanding is if your flying for any other reason as long as no money is being exchanged or value derived from the flight/video/photography then a 107 is not needed.

In another location on the FAA site is says that you do not need a 107 if you fly only for fun or recreation. So clearly if your flying for fun or recreation a 107 is not needed. BUT what if your asked to capture drone footage of a small (girls softball, little league ) type event to help the coaches possibly coach better? Following the required safety regulations, not over people etc No commercial enterprise. Just a video to enjoy THEIR hobby better. Another example, a buddy ask you to fly his fishing bait offshore far into the surf to help him possible catch a better fish? Not for re-sale just his own consumption. It's not your hobby but your just helping him out.

My interperation is that as long as it's not for commercial benefit you do not need a 107 PERIOD. I assume the FAA is saying that if your flying and it's not for commercial benefit everything else falls into the fun and recreation catagory. If a friend ask you to film his grandmothers graveside funeral that's certainly not fun and recreation but still not for commercial benefit.

How do you see it?
 
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If you fly strictly for Hobby/Recreation no Part 107 is needed. The caveat is you can't Hobby/Recreate for someone else. Even if no money, value, compensation is made. You are either flying purely for YOUR enjoyment or you need a Part 107.

Recreation/Hobby is technically a "Carve Out" from Part 107. It affords you an ubble of protection from Part 107 rules. If any portion of your flight does not completely stay within that bubble you DEFAULT to Part 107 rules.

Money/Compensation is but one (of many) ways that you are required to have Part 107. Don't get hung up on the Commercial aspect of flight.
 
Hobby/Recreation is Part 101/336 flights. Here's a direct response from the FAA that might explain my above statement just a bit better:

In order for someone to be considered as a hobbyist, they must comply with ALL requirements in Part 101 (essentially PL 112-95 Section 336). Here's the confusing part, many people (including myself, at times) refer to Part 107 as the "commercial UAS rules". In fact, Part 107 technically allows for "civil" UAS operations. Part of that "civil" operation can certainly be commercial operations. Therefore, if you are not in compliance with Part 101 and you're not on an Exemption or Public Use COA, you are operating as a civil UAS and Part 107 applies. There is no specific guidance, per se, because it's regulation. Think of it this way: Everyone is a civil UAS operator, subject to Part 107 (Public Use excluded). Now, Congress mandated that certain operators be left alone (not subject to Part 107) if they are operating as a hobbyist and codified law to describe what a hobbyist operation must adhere to. The FAA took that law and regurgitated it into Part 101. So, if you're going to claim that you are NOT flying under Part 107, you must follow all of Part 101, or else you revert back to Part 107 regulations.
 
Thank you BigA107. I still assume that as long as whenever I'm flying (non commercial) and it's fun and recreational than I'm not required to have a Part 107 even with my fishing buddy or softball coaches. Seems difficult to define what's not for fun or recreation that is certainly not commercial.
 
Personally I wouldn’t worry about it in those situations. It’s friends and you’re just having fun helping them out. I’m pretty sure the FAA isn’t going to hunt you down. [emoji16]
 
Thank you BigA107. I still assume that as long as whenever I'm flying (non commercial) and it's fun and recreational than I'm not required to have a Part 107 even with my fishing buddy or softball coaches. Seems difficult to define what's not for fun or recreation that is certainly not commercial.

I think that you would have to be extremely unlucky to get into trouble for flights of that kind. Although I've heard that this little league stuff can be extremely competitive (the parents, not the kids) - what happens if the opposition report you to the FAA for giving your team an unfair advantage?
 
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Commercial doesn't always mean for money. If you are doing anything for someone else to give them an advantage, then it is commercial. Even if the group you are doing it for is a non profit, which the little league team technically is. Same with your buddy fishing if he is doing it for any gain. However if you AND your buddy are fishing just for fun, and you use the drone to help both of you fish, then personally I would consider it flying for fun as long as you weren't in a fishing tournament. The thing with the little league team though, I don't see the advantage of using a drone for the video. We got the same results back in the day shooting 16mm film with a standard tripod mounted camera in High School and professional sports teams did the same for decades. It is little league, there are many other ways to get the result without a drone involved.
 
Commercial doesn't always mean for money. If you are doing anything for someone else to give them an advantage, then it is commercial. Even if the group you are doing it for is a non profit, which the little league team technically is. Same with your buddy fishing if he is doing it for any gain. However if you AND your buddy are fishing just for fun, and you use the drone to help both of you fish, then personally I would consider it flying for fun as long as you weren't in a fishing tournament. The thing with the little league team though, I don't see the advantage of using a drone for the video. We got the same results back in the day shooting 16mm film with a standard tripod mounted camera in High School and professional sports teams did the same for decades. It is little league, there are many other ways to get the result without a drone involved.

I agree, just using it as an example of how it could be fun for someone to provide footage to someone else's no commercial benefit.
 
Personally I wouldn’t worry about it in those situations. It’s friends and you’re just having fun helping them out. I’m pretty sure the FAA isn’t going to hunt you down. [emoji16]

I agree. The FAA would need thousands of agents to police these types of situations. My inquiry was just to better understand the legal defination of what types of flights are necessary to have the Part 107. I have a 107 but I was foggy on the Regulations.
 
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Thank you BigA107. I still assume that as long as whenever I'm flying (non commercial) and it's fun and recreational than I'm not required to have a Part 107 even with my fishing buddy or softball coaches. Seems difficult to define what's not for fun or recreation that is certainly not commercial.
My understanding is as long as no compensation (cash or other compensation, use your imagination here), I’m flying non-commercially.

I have my Part 107, so my instinct is to follow these rules.
 
My understanding is as long as no compensation (cash or other compensation, use your imagination here), I’m flying non-commercially.

I have my Part 107, so my instinct is to follow these rules.
I have been told that even if you are not compensated, if the work you do is "in furtherance of a business," it's a 107 area. But, since the FAA has no police agents, it would take some other legal mess to get a sUAV pilot involved in such a case.
 
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My understanding is as long as no compensation (cash or other compensation, use your imagination here), I’m flying non-commercially.

I have my Part 107, so my instinct is to follow these rules.


Compensation is but one reason that removes you from the protective bubble of HOBBY. Since you have your Part 107 you are safe to fly by those rules just know you can't mix & match hobby with Part 107 in the same flight.

Safe Flights :)
Allen
 
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I have been told that even if you are not compensated, if the work you do is "in furtherance of a business," it's a 107 area. But, since the FAA has no police agents, it would take some other legal mess to get a sUAV pilot involved in such a case.


All it takes is one complaint, incident, or something else to put you on the FAA's radar.

Odds are most of the things listed in this thread would never cause a glitch on the FAA radar unless there is a complaint or an incident. Then you're tail feathers are on the line.
 
All it takes is one complaint, incident, or something else to put you on the FAA's radar.

Odds are most of the things listed in this thread would never cause a glitch on the FAA radar unless there is a complaint or an incident. Then you're tail feathers are on the line.
Oh yeah. Well, they'll have to pry my Mavic Pro out of my cold, dead hand.;) (I think Charleston Heston said that first?) Actually I find that having the 107 card gives me some peace of mind if I find myself in an ambiguous situation.
 
Oh yeah. Well, they'll have to pry my Mavic Pro out of my cold, dead hand.;) (I think Charleston Heston said that first?) Actually I find that having the 107 card gives me some peace of mind if I find myself in an ambiguous situation.

Charlton Heston had a Mavic? I didn't know that.
 
Taken directly from the FAA website are two (maybe conflicted) statements concerning the requirement to have a Part 107 certificate. In one place it states you will need a cerfificate if you fly for commercial benefit of either yourself or someone elses commercial benefit. My understanding is if your flying for any other reason as long as no money is being exchanged or value derived from the flight/video/photography then a 107 is not needed.

In another location on the FAA site is says that you do not need a 107 if you fly only for fun or recreation. So clearly if your flying for fun or recreation a 107 is not needed. BUT what if your asked to capture drone footage of a small (girls softball, little league ) type event to help the coaches possibly coach better? Following the required safety regulations, not over people etc No commercial enterprise. Just a video to enjoy THEIR hobby better. Another example, a buddy ask you to fly his fishing bait offshore far into the surf to help him possible catch a better fish? Not for re-sale just his own consumption. It's not your hobby but your just helping him out.

My interperation is that as long as it's not for commercial benefit you do not need a 107 PERIOD. I assume the FAA is saying that if your flying and it's not for commercial benefit everything else falls into the fun and recreation catagory. If a friend ask you to film his grandmothers graveside funeral that's certainly not fun and recreation but still not for commercial benefit.

How do you see it?
For safety sake and avoid such confusion why don’t FAA require all u
If you fly strictly for Hobby/Recreation no Part 107 is needed. The caveat is you can't Hobby/Recreate for someone else. Even if no money, value, compensation is made. You are either flying purely for YOUR enjoyment or you need a Part 107.

Recreation/Hobby is technically a "Carve Out" from Part 107. It affords you an ubble of protection from Part 107 rules. If any portion of your flight does not completely stay within that bubble you DEFAULT to Part 107 rules.

Money/Compensation is but one (of many) ways that you are required to have Part 107. Don't get hung up on the Commercial aspect of flight.
For safety and to avoid confusion why don’t FAA require all UAS to take test and
get license. Part 101 is take off of
model AC which you could not fly without
keeping it in sight and sure [Language Removed by Moderator] couldn't fly above 400 ft. However, to charge $150
every 2 years is ridiculous.
 
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For safety sake and avoid such confusion why don’t FAA require all u

For safety and to avoid confusion why don’t FAA require all UAS to take test and
get license. Part 101 is take off of
model AC which you could not fly without
keeping it in sight and sure he’ll couldn't fly above 400 ft. However, to charge $150
every 2 years is ridiculous.

$150 for a proctored Part 107 test administered by a Flight School is not ridiculous. It will be interesting to see what the FAA comes up with as the testing requirement for recreational pilots.
 
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For safety sake and avoid such confusion why don’t FAA require all u

For safety and to avoid confusion why don’t FAA require all UAS to take test and
get license. Part 101 is take off of
model AC which you could not fly without
keeping it in sight and sure [Language Removed by Moderator] couldn't fly above 400 ft. However, to charge $150
every 2 years is ridiculous.


$150 is the cost of doing business and a drop in the bucket. How many people spend 6x that' for a new pair of FPV goggles? The FAA doesn't make any$$ from the test so your $150 doesn't even cover the cost of the paperwork for Part 107 let alone anything else.

If you're going to be a Big Boy and fly in the NAS then you need to pony up, learn the rules/regs, and be held accountable as such.

I agree with @sar104 as I'm eager to see what part 349 of the FAA ReAuthorization Act of 2018 ends up looking like when it's finalized.
 
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