I finally got mine registered last night and started looking into getting a license. What are the benefits of getting a license for a hack like myself? This is my 4th year of flying and I somehow was unaware that there were more rules than don’t fly by airports. I spent a bit of time looking at rules and regulations. For instance, one said you were supposed to fly over people. I didn’t see a specific height mentioned and have a hard time thinking they meant flying over at a few hundred feet.
I’m not trying to scare anybody off, but there are some rules to follow.....
Hey Todd,
There are a TON MORE rules and requirements. I think I was just trying to touch on the very basics.
As far as the benefits, I think first and most importantly - you will learn how to fly your drone safely. You won’t have a choice. By learning the requirements of the test, you will learn so much about safety. And by proxy, this will make you a better UAS Pilot. It will also give you some validity should you ever encounter a problem on a local level. Trust me when I say that an “encounter” will happen while flying. It’s not a matter of if, but when. And when it does, that “encounter” is highly likely to go over a lot smoother when they know you are a certified UAS Pilot.
There are so many more benefits than that (these are just a few) but again, I’d say probably the best benefit is that it is going to make you a better, and safer UAS Pilot.
@Drew Terril you studying for your Extra is obviously so much harder, this will be a breeze as long as you study.
I hold my General class (old school 13wpm CW) as well as my GROL and that was hard! So you shouldn’t have any problems as long as you study. The 107 test is the same test required of manned pilots in that you’ll take the test based upon the Airman’s Knowledge Test. And as Warren mentioned, there are tricky questions on just about every question. But there are many study guides out there that can help you prep and the cool part is that they are free. Word of caution here to anyone interested: DO NOT PAY A DIME TO ANYONE OR ANY ENTITY FOR TEST PREP. You don’t need to. I know a lot of people are charging $100 - $500 with a “guarantee you’ll pass on the first time”. I highly encourage everyone to stay away from these higher “educators”. There are so many free ways to study for the test and it’s simply a waste of money. You got apps, you can order the actual Airman’s Knowledge book in, you can take practice tests, you can study right off the FAA website. It’s all right at your finger tips.
Changing gears now: some things I would recommend for new flyers. The first thing I would recommend is learn how to fly safely and within the law. This is paramount. The second thing - batteries for your drone. One battery just doesn’t cut it so make sure you have a few. The third thing - ND filters (if they make them for your drone type) Most drones (even those with a 1’ sensor like Mavic Pro 2) just can’t handle the dynamic range (doesn’t matter if you are shooting in H265,
D-Cina, Log or normal) A good set of ND filters will go a long ways to helping you get that shutter speed down to the 1/60 rule to help that video turn to that buttery cinematic look (providing that’s what you want to do with your drone)
The possibilities are endless and I think right now is a good time to jump in especially with the new Remote ID coming soon. Just my two cents FWIW.
