So I was thinking of flying my nice drone and possibly making some spending money using the aircraft. But to do so the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) says that you would need to acquire a Part 107 Certification (sUAS License – sUAS stands for small Unmanned Aerial System). This being said, let me tell you the studying I have gone through is nothing short of Ground School for a private pilots license. The private pilot license is part 61 which also includes flying a small aircraft in the air for some 40 hours with an instructor. Of course that would be pretty difficult to fly on top or even inside my little (about 23 inches across) drone.

I’ve been studying for a little over three months and the information you have to learn has really been interesting and also making me think…”why do I need to learn about flying my drone up at 12000 feet above the ground. Yes, if I happened to climb up a very high mountain and then fly the drone there, I would need to know the conditions and the effect of flight at that level. Most of my flights have been at or around 200 feet or there abouts. I think the highest I’ve flown so far with my first Quadcopters was in the neighborhood of 600 feet. You know at that altitude, you can’t even see the aircraft.

Getting back to what I have had to learn. I started out learning about center of gravity. Learning to calculate how weight is distributed evenly to make the aircraft fly without any hinderences. Of course my drone is designed with center of gravity already built into the aircraft. Not a whole lot to worry about when it comes to center of gravity. But to add to the center of gravity and weight and balance aspect of flying a larger drone that information would come in handy calculating the various parts of the calculations.

Continuing with my studies towards my drone pilot license was the learning of weather and how it affects my flying and its effect on my drone. Let me tell you, here in Southern California the weather is pretty predictable sun, sun, and a little bit of rain. Of course the past couple of months we had way more than we usual experience. That put a cramp in my flying.

Next came airspace. You are wondering what airspace entails when it mentioned. Airspace is the an imaginary state above areas of the city or the country. Since my license is for airspace above the United States. Before acquiring the license I really had no concern where I flew my drone. Now I have to be serious about where I fly. You have no doubt heard about the news reports, complaining about drones flying where there are fires happening and someone flys their drone in the area and causes the fix wing and helicopters to cancels their flights until there aren’t any more drones in the area. With fires of something just as important (i.e. Blue Angels/Thunderbirds performing) there will be restrictions announced that drone pilots and other pilots will have to obey. They will be listed on publications that pilots are to read before they consider a flight plan or even when it comes to my planning a flight I have coming up, I will need to check for and restrictions in the airspace I will be flying in during my flight.

Next came learning about the regulations of flying when it comes to commanding the aircraft and the other people assisting in you flying a mission. The pilot flying the  aircraft is know as the Pilot in Command. Just like the captain on a ship, the person flying the aircraft is the captain of the flying aircraft unless someone else is assisting you during flight. There can be someone else flying the drone and doesn’t need to be a licensed because he will be watched or commanded by the Pilot in Command. So many things to grasped to be a pilot.

Next came to learning how to communicate with airports or other aircrafts in you flying area. There are proper statements to make when communicating with airports or other aircrafts. One example is saying Niner in place of nine. Another is to actually using alpha characters instead of using the letters directly (i.e. A is said as Alpha, B is said as Bravo, C is said as Charlie and so on)

After three plus months I finally took the Part 107 test and passed. I had been taking many tests before I actually made an appointment with the FAA to take the test. I will say that if I hadn’t practiced so many tests it would have been difficult to past the Part 107 Test.

I will be updating my blog as I figure what I want to do since I am now a Licensed Drone Pilot. Happy Flying