Part 107 lives, the starting gun has fired.
Today, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finalized the first operational rules for routine commercial use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”), opening pathways towards fully integrating UAS into the nation’s airspace. These new regulations work to harness new innovations safely, to spur job growth, advance critical scientific research and save lives.
“We are part of a new era in aviation, and the potential for unmanned aircraft will make it safer and easier to do certain jobs, gather information, and deploy disaster relief,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We look forward to working with the aviation community to support innovation, while maintaining our standards as the safest and most complex airspace in the world.”
According to industry estimates, the rule could generate more than $82 billion for the U.S. economy and create more than 100,000 new jobs over the next 10 years.
The new rule, which takes effect in late August, offers safety regulations for unmanned aircraft drones weighing less than 55 pounds that are conducting non-hobbyist operations.
Of course we all knew this was coming today, welll sort of knew.
http://www.suasnews.com/2016/06/faa-releases-full-part-107-small-uas-rule/
Comments
As Gary stated, its not to bad.
Questions I am left with...
It looks like the 333 exception will be no longer relevant as of September?
Commercial operations will be permitted under FAA 107, so no exception needed?
"N" registration number not required for "compliant" UAV commercial use?
Hi Gary,
I notice on your SUAS site you give an actual breakdown of the contents of the rule.
http://www.suasnews.com/2016/06/faa-releases-full-part-107-small-ua...
Overall, this is a huge breath of fresh air after the initial extremely restrictive regulations that also required the UAS pilot to be a current registered manned aircraft private pilot.
It does appear that the new regulations will permit non-manned aircraft pilots to easily also qualify, but the wording is a bit strange.
Possibly someone could clarify for me this sentence:
" To qualify for a remote pilot certificate, an individual must either pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center or have an existing non-student Part 61 pilot certificate. If qualifying under the latter provision, a pilot must have completed a flight review in the previous 24 months and must take a UAS online training course provided by the FAA."
This seems to say you can either pass a simple aeronautical knowledge test or be a certified current private pilot who has also taken a UAS on line training course.
Seemingly, rather like saying you can either take a one day class in Kindergarten or be a PHD graduate to qualify to fly commercial UAS.
Maybe I missed something.
Also, does or will the FAA actually have the facilities for either the Aeronautical knowledge test or the on line course?
This really seems a great thing, but that particular requirement while potentially the most important part of the whole thing is weird to say the least.
If it is a straight forward as it seems, I would really like to be the one to write the book that tells you what you need to know to pass the FAA's "initial Aeronautical Information" test.
Whoever writes that book is going to have a big audience.
Best Regards,
Gary
Excellent, how do I get the certification? Is it available yet?
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