New 107 Rules in the U.S. Today. Make sure you understand them so you don't get in trouble.

[Vic Moss]

Today Remote Pilots (107) in the U.S. can fly over people (OOP), and at night without waivers.

But make sure you understand the rules. Don't get in trouble. The OOP rules are very specific, and very limiting.

New FAA Part 107 Rules, New Confusion - Drone Service Providers Alliance

With the new changes to 14 CFR Part 107, we’re seeing a lot of confusion in the forums. And yes, we know that people don’t live and breath on the forums, so the confusion is understandable. As a 107 Pilot, one of your responsibilities is to stay current on new regs. But where do you […]

dspalliance.org

 

[maggior]

That was a good read. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SethB]

SOME remote pilots may do these things... some of the time!

Do read up as Vic suggests. Pt. 107 certificate holders need to take the free online recurrency training/exam to fly over people or at night within regs. My recurrency isn’t up again for a while, but I’ll be taking the training/exam that opens these doors asap now that there’s a good reason to take it early.

 

[maggior]

SOME remote pilots may do these things... some of the time!

Do read up as Vic suggests. Pt. 107 certificate holders need to take the free online recurrency training/exam to fly over people or at night within regs. My recurrency isn’t up again for a while, but I’ll be taking the training/exam that opens these doors asap now that there’s a good reason to take it early.

I only got my 107 last month. Last Friday I took advantage of the free online recurrency training and exam. It was far easier and straightforward than the initial 107 test! Not sure if I want to fly at night, but now I can if I decide to. Also good to be up to speed on the other regulation updates.

 

[crlmjohnson]

SOME remote pilots may do these things... some of the time!

Do read up as Vic suggests. Pt. 107 certificate holders need to take the free online recurrency training/exam to fly over people or at night within regs. My recurrency isn’t up again for a while, but I’ll be taking the training/exam that opens these doors asap now that there’s a good reason to take it early.

I renew my FAA Part 107 license Nov 2020....yesterday I took the FAA recurrent test online for free.

I also have a night waiver, but the online test allows me to fly at night without a additional night waiver.

 

[NDWildBill]

My understanding is that their are currently no drones that are legal to fly over people. Is that correct?

 

[Deleted member 148928]

Just got off the phone with the FAA help center because LAANC isn't working like they said it would...Apparently FAA ATC put out stuff and didn't consult with the other side as to what they were doing...
Thus if you want to fly at night -- you print out this blanket Wavier Document and use LANNC in the following manner:
Pick a day you want to fly at night
Pick a time you want to fly in the daylight - yes day light hours
Then fly at night instead of the the daylight time.
According to the FAA, even you pick a 30 minute window at 16:00, it is good till 00:00.

I do believe the FAA and their respective LAANC partners have had more than enough time to have made the necessary changes and updates to LAANC and apps to allow for flying at night without having to have a convoluted method that seems counter intuitive.

Of course this only applies if you are flying in Control National Air Space.

 

[SethB]

My understanding is that their are currently no drones that are legal to fly over people. Is that correct?

I believe the straight answer to your question is "no", there are not any drones ready to comply with new regulations for OOP out of the box.

Solutions are at hand though. Jonathan Rupprecht recently rolled up information on parachute systems that are compliant with the kinetic energy transfer requirements (link).

The other piece of it is a cage system or propellor stoppage to prevent lacerations.

My takeaway on this is that current solutions double the cost of high-consumer drones, and are therefore out of reach unless one has work in hand that supports the costs.

On the other hand, nighttime operations seem to be straightforward, only requiring additional free training and inexpensive lighting systems.

 

[wsalopek]

Just got off the phone with the FAA help center because LANNC isn't working like they said it would...Apparently FAA ATC put out stuff and didn't consult with the other side as to what they were doing...
Thus if you want to fly at night -- you print out this blanket Wavier Document and use LANNC in the following manner:
Pick a day you want to fly at night
Pick a time you want to fly in the daylight - yes day light hours
Then fly at night instead of the the daylight time.
According to the FAA, even you pick a 30 minute window at 16:00, it is good till 00:00.

I do believe the FAA and their respective LANNC partners have had more than enough time to have made the necessary changes and updates to LANNC and apps to allow for flying at night without having to have a convoluted method that seems counter intutitive.

At risk of stating the obvious (for those who this might not BE obvious) - remember that LAANC is only needed for flying in controlled airspace.