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Some questions on 107 regs

mham

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I just ordered a Mavic Mini 2 and I have a few questions, since this is my first drone. I of course want to stay legal in all respects to the point the even though the stock aircraft is under the weight limit, because I also ordered a strobe, landing legs and rotor guards, I registered the aircraft. Now here's my question. The craft will be used 99.9% of the time for recreational use in class G airspace. However, I as the media director for our church, which also has a drug and alcohol recovery program, film videos of the graduates of that program.

I wanted to occasionally use the drone for "B Roll" footage, as well as perhaps using for our church's YouTube account. The channel is not monitized in any way shape or form, nor am I paid for the work that I do in the church. Would I be required to get my commercial license to operate it in that capacity?
 
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I just ordered a Mavic Mini 2 and I have a few questions, since this is my first drone. I of course want to stay legal in all respects to the point the even though the stock aircraft is under the weight limit, because I also ordered a strobe, landing legs and rotor guards, I registered the aircraft. Now here's my question. The craft will be used 99.9% of the time for recreational use in class G airspace. However, I as the media director for our church, which also has a drug and alcohol recovery program, film videos of the graduates of that program.

I wanted to occasionally use the drone for "B Roll" footage, as well as perhaps using for our church's YouTube account. The channel is not monitized in any way shape or form, nor am I paid for the work that I do in the church. Would I be required to get my commercial license to operate it in that capacity?
Yes. You need a 107 license to perform any of the activities mentioned as part of that 0.01% of the time.
 
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I just ordered a Mavic Mini 2 and I have a few questions, since this is my first drone. I of course want to stay legal in all respects to the point the even though the stock aircraft is under the weight limit, because I also ordered a strobe, landing legs and rotor guards, I registered the aircraft. Now here's my question. The craft will be used 99.9% of the time for recreational use in class G airspace. However, I as the media director for our church, which also has a drug and alcohol recovery program, film videos of the graduates of that program.

I wanted to occasionally use the drone for "B Roll" footage, as well as perhaps using for our church's YouTube account. The channel is not monitized in any way shape or form, nor am I paid for the work that I do in the church. Would I be required to get my commercial license to operate it in that capacity?


First off WELCOME to the forum!!

Welcome to the INDUSTRY as well. It's a LOT of fun to say the least.

Any operation that is not purely "recreational" falls, by default, under Part 107 operations regardless of money, work, compensation etc. Go ahead and register it under Part 107, get your Part 107, and you'll be a very well informed Recreational Operator with the option to fly Non-Recreational if you so decide.

KUDOS to you for asking BEFORE jumping to conclusions. Well done :)
 
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As @BigAl07 said, welcome to the forum. And, as others have mentioned, your church usage would fall under 107 rules.

I'd like to add a couple more suggestions.

First, odds are if you ask 50 drone flyers, you'll get 30 of them just saying to "send it" for the church video stuff, and that the "FAA won't catch you, or care". Odds are they're right. You could probably fly for a very long time and never (if ever) catch the eye of the FAA. However, (& there is always a "however") it's not the FAA you need to worry about. It's your insurance company, and your church board.

As a board member of my church board, if I knew someone in one of our ministries was putting our church in a pretty hefty liability position, we'd call them in and ask them to please not do that. So that's one of the main reasons you don't want to fly your new drone for b-roll for your ministry.

Second reason is purely conjecture on my part.

You''re using some very correct aviation vernacular, so that leads me to believe two things. You've either done your research very well (thank you) and/or you have a manned aviation ticket.

If you have your manned ticket, whether Part 61, ATC, Commercial rating or otherwise, flying a drone illegally can ding your manned ticket too. Drones are part of the NAS, and are aircraft. What you do with one aircraft, transfers over to any other certificate or rating you have.

Thanks again for asking fabulous questions. So many people do it.

And one third question for you, that you'll understand, WWJD? ?
 
First of all, thank you all for the very warm welcome.

To answer your question Vic, no I am not a rated pilot. Just someone who spends far too much time in Microsoft Flight Sim and DCS World. Also, I did a fair bit of research before posting my question. So I pretty well knew the answer, but I just wanted to confirm it with someone more knowledgeable than I.

The temptation to say "just go for it" was, I have to admit, very strong. Spending at least $150.00 for just the test, not to mention the time and fuel it would take to get to the testing center (the closest one is over an hour away), really don't seem to add up to what's going to amount to probably 10-15 minutes of commercial flying every couple of months I didn't even think about the church's insurance, I was mostly concerned about my own liability, so thank you for pointing that out. Yeah I could probably "get away with it", but what's that old saying about an ounce of prevention...

I found the FAA's study guide for part 107 and even a 'sample test' that you could take online. Are there any recommendations for further study that you folks would suggest? I would like to make sure that I get this right the first time as I do have so far to travel to the testing center. I live in a very rural part of Wyoming, so my access to more traditional forms of study, such as a ground school {if one even exists for drones} is non-existent.

That also brings my to my next question. Wyoming's single law on the books concerning drones reads a bit strange to me:

SF 170 // 2017

This law requires the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission to develop rules regulating where unmanned aircraft can take off and land. The commission is also permitted to develop reasonable rules regulating the operation of unmanned aircraft through coordination with the unmanned aircraft industry and local governments. This law also specifies that the commission does not have the power to regulate unmanned aircraft operation in navigable airspace, and makes it unlawful to land an unmanned aircraft on the property of another person, but operators can pilot an unmanned aircraft over their own property.

If I am reading this right; legally, you can only take off and land from your own property and no where else. Can anyone clarify this for me or am I, by law, only allowed to fly from my own back yard?
 
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First of all, thank you all for the very warm welcome.
You're welcome!
I found the FAA's study guide for part 107 and even a 'sample test' that you could take online. Are there any recommendations for further study that you folks would suggest? I would like to make sure that I get this right the first time as I do have so far to travel to the testing center. I live in a very rural part of Wyoming, so my access to more traditional forms of study, such as a ground school {if one even exists for drones} is non-existent.
Pilot Institute is a good one, and they're a sponsor here. Greg and I work together on a number of things. He's a good guy.
That also brings my to my next question. Wyoming's single law on the books concerning drones reads a bit strange to me:

SF 170 // 2017

This law requires the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission to develop rules regulating where unmanned aircraft can take off and land. The commission is also permitted to develop reasonable rules regulating the operation of unmanned aircraft through coordination with the unmanned aircraft industry and local governments. This law also specifies that the commission does not have the power to regulate unmanned aircraft operation in navigable airspace, and makes it unlawful to land an unmanned aircraft on the property of another person, but operators can pilot an unmanned aircraft over their own property.

If I am reading this right; legally, you can only take off and land from your own property and no where else. Can anyone clarify this for me or am I, by law, only allowed to fly from my own back yard?
Even though I'm in Colorado, I'm surprised I haven't seen this before. I'll look into it and get back to you.
 
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That also brings my to my next question. Wyoming's single law on the books concerning drones reads a bit strange to me:

SF 170 // 2017

This law requires the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission to develop rules regulating where unmanned aircraft can take off and land. The commission is also permitted to develop reasonable rules regulating the operation of unmanned aircraft through coordination with the unmanned aircraft industry and local governments. This law also specifies that the commission does not have the power to regulate unmanned aircraft operation in navigable airspace, and makes it unlawful to land an unmanned aircraft on the property of another person, but operators can pilot an unmanned aircraft over their own property.

If I am reading this right; legally, you can only take off and land from your own property and no where else. Can anyone clarify this for me or am I, by law, only allowed to fly from my own back yard?
From what I can find, this law only gave WYDOT the authority to promulgate rules concerning when and where a drone can operate. But it doesn't look like WYDOT has ever taken advantage of that authority. Their site just discusses FAA regs.

 
I am new here myself, but since I just got my Part 107 a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd chime in.

I think the knowledge you gain from studying for your 107 is very useful even if you are just flying recreationally. It gives you a level of awareness of what bad things can happen if you don't focus on your flight, maintain your drone, or be disciplined about your pre flight procedure. Some of the material you have to learn is boring and maybe not really relevant since the information can be gained from apps (decoding weather reports for instance), but I found it interesting anyway.

I got my 107 just so I could add my music to drone footage I shoot and post to youtube. I am sure the FAA would not have come after me, but I figured I'd go about it the right way.

The test wasn't easy, but not impossible. I spent 2 weeks watching youtube videos and taking practice tests. I also read through the FAA study guide.
 
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I got my 107 just so I could add my music to drone footage I shoot and post to youtube. I am sure the FAA would not have come after me, but I figured I'd go about it the right way.

The test wasn't easy, but not impossible. I spent 2 weeks watching youtube videos and taking practice tests. I also read through the FAA study guide.
There is no need to get your 107 just to add music to your YouTube channel. It's only if you want to fly for "non-recreational" flights.
 
There is no need to get your 107 just to add music to your YouTube channel. It's only if you want to fly for "non-recreational" flights.

My music is published and I have a youtube content ID for it, so I can potentially earn money this way from my drone footage posted on YouTube even though my channel isn't monetized. From my understanding, this constitutes "commercial use".
 
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My music is published and I have a youtube content ID for it, so I can potentially earn money this way from my drone footage posted on YouTube even though my channel isn't monetized. From my understanding, this constitutes "commercial use".
Ah. Yes, if it's your music and you're flying for content on your channel, it is definitely a non-recreational flight. 107 required for sure.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
From what I can find, this law only gave WYDOT the authority to promulgate rules concerning when and where a drone can operate. But it doesn't look like WYDOT has ever taken advantage of that authority. Their site just discusses FAA regs.
Thanks for checking on that for me Vic it really did read a bit weird to me. Not to mention making very little sense especially here in what is arguably one of, if not the most conservative states in the nation with regard to personal freedoms.

Not going to turn this into a political debate but as I said it did read a bit strange to me.

My bird should be here in a week to 10 days. I already ordered a skin for it with my FAA registration number so I don't have to go the route of looking for a label maker I don't have, and I bought a some more strobes (Firehouse this time. I canceled the order on the Amazon one that claimed to be FAA legal). This is turning into an expensive hobby. And I haven't even gotten the aircraft yet :p
 
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This is turning into an expensive hobby. And I haven't even gotten the aircraft yet :p
The trick is to turn the hobby into a job. ?
 
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