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I have a sUAS license. Does this mean I can do for profit flying?

If you already had a 107 certification you would not be confused, so I am guessing you have a hobbyist registration which is NOT a license to fly for profit. However, there is a simple and direct way to cut through the clutter and be on the way to being 107 certified and thus be able to fly commercially. ;)

You need to go to the FAA website and click on the link for drones. On that page you will see the question "what type of flyer are you" below you will see recreational, and below that is 'Certified Remote and Commercial Operators' - click that link and read. FAA HERE

It is confusing if you're new and there is no short cut to learning. Getting your 107 certification is a lengthy process which will require studying and going to an FAA authorized test center to take a test (its all laid out at the FAA's site).

Many 107's used online training courses which can range from around a hundred on up to a couple hundred dollars OR you can prepare yourself by getting everything you need following that link I gave you. There is a lot of material to get your head around but step one is understanding what is required. I self studied for my 107 spending a couple months in the evenings to take it all in as I felt that I wanted to really understand and learned at a pace that allowed me to do so.

So, to answer your question: you need to go the that link above, as you read though the requirements, download every blue highlighted piece of information (All PDF's) and read every link.

Getting a 107 is easy if one is prepared for the task, those who fail typically begin to fail by not realizing the scope of what it is you must learn and the FAA is precisely where to start. Good Luck.
 
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If you already had a 107 certification you would not be confused, so I am guessing you have a hobbyist registration which is NOT a license to fly for profit. However, there is a simple and direct way to cut through the clutter and be on the way to being 107 certified and thus be able to fly commercially. ;)

You need to go to the FAA website and click on the link for drones. On that page you will see the question "what type of flyer are you" below you will see recreational, and below that is 'Certified Remote and Commercial Operators' - click that link and read. FAA HERE

It is confusing if you're new and there is no short cut to learning. Getting your 107 certification is a lengthy process which will require studying and going to an FAA authorized test center to take a test (its all laid out at the FAA's site).

Many 107's used online training courses which can range from around a hundred on up to a couple hundred dollars OR you can prepare yourself by getting everything you need following that link I gave you. There is a lot of material to get your head around but step one is understanding what is required. I self studied for my 107 spending a couple months in the evenings to take it all in as I felt that I wanted to really understand and learned at a pace that allowed me to do so.

So, to answer your question: you need to go the that link above, as you read though the requirements, download every blue highlighted piece of information (All PDF's) and read every link.

Getting a 107 is easy if one is prepared for the task, those who fail typically begin to fail by not realizing the scope of what it is you must learn and the FAA is precisely where to start. Good Luck.
Ty Pilot like every gov't endeavor the FAA will just phase out us drone hobbyist fliers and only allow big money makers like Amazon, UPS etcetera to dominate the skies?
 
1 question if i take a photo from a private plane and post it online is that/need a 107,whatever happened to your right to photo/video in public

Something very important to clarify here:

Posting images online and selling images for the furtherance of a business are not automatically inclusive of each other.

If, in @Dan Reed’s scenario, those posted images are from an small unmanned aircraft, only if there is an option to buy said images via the posting, would a pre-requisite Part 107 be required. Part 107 does not apply to manned aircraft operation, regardless of end use of any imaging.

Feel free to correct if anything has been misstated.

Jeff
 
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One important note. One does not need to earn a profit from images taken with a drone to necessitate having a part 107. Any monetary or consideration gained through those images will necessitate having a part 107. Profit has nothing to do with it. This is also true in the U.K. where a PfCO is required (at the moment since this may change next summer).
 
One important note. One does not need to earn a profit from images taken with a drone to necessitate having a part 107. Any monetary or consideration gained through those images will necessitate having a part 107. Profit has nothing to do with it. This is also true in the U.K. where a PfCO is required (at the moment since this may change next summer).
A commercial operation is defined as:
‘flight by a small unmanned aircraft except a flight for public transport, or any operation of any other aircraft except an operation for public transport;

which is available to the public;
or
which, when not made available to the public,
in the case of a flight by a small unmanned aircraft, is performed under a contract between the SUA operator and a customer, where the latter has no control over the remote pilot

or

in any other case, is performed under a contract between an operator and a customer, where the latter has no control over the operator,
in return for remuneration or other valuable consideration.’

The key elements in understanding this term are ‘…any flight by a small unmanned aircraft…in return for remuneration or other valuable consideration’.

The term ‘available to the public’ should be interpreted as being a service or commodity that any member of the public can make use of, or actively choose to use, (e.g. because it has been advertised or offered to someone).

Examples showing how commercial operations are defined are available in our guidance for small UAS operators.

An ‘SUA operator’, in relation to a small unmanned aircraft, is the person who has the management of the small unmanned aircraft.
Would valuable consideration not apply giving the photos to a family member, or a school, which would not come under a public remit? Since it is gifted, hence no contract implied in any form, verbal or written or anyway implied, cant find any legal challenges, so I assume a judge would decide?
 
There may be some slight differences between UK and US rules but as far as here in the States; @FlushVision is correct, sales of the media taken, whether it is photo or video is not necessarily the only way media can be used commercially.

For instance lets say you have a business in which you sale tractors and you are building a website and you want a shot of your inventory from the air for a header page of that site and you fly and take the picture and put it on your website - that is commercial use without direct sales of the actual media - but it is being used in 'Furtherance of a Business'. Or perhaps you take a little video of your latest tractor in the field and put it on a youtube channel that is somehow specifically linked to you business, again no direct sales but it is used in furtherance of a business.
 
I was referring to say, you video a friend riding a motorcycle, you give the friend the video clip, he watches it in his house, it's private use, just like the warnings at the beginning of a DVD Film, "Private use only" no distribution by any electronic means, internet etc. The drone pilot is a hobbyist.not commercial, not contract, nothing financially, in kind etc. No potential commercial use whatsoever.
 
Right your example is pure hobbyist, no doubt.

I am one who thinks the rules are so narrowly written that they cause the kind of confusion that started this thread. This is especially true due to the fact that there are rules for hobby and rules for commercial and that, in and of itself, induces those murky areas that nearly take a degree law to understand. The one phrase that I use to cut down on the confusion is one that was mentioned by an FAA official when asked to define commercial use and the answer was "In Furtherance of Any Business"

So that is the metric that I think anyone can apply. If we're taking pictures and video and not selling them, not posting for profit or monitization, or giving to someone to use in their business, then it's pure hobby.
 
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Right your example is pure hobbyist, no doubt.

I am one who thinks the rules are so narrowly written that they cause the kind of confusion that started this thread. This is especially true due to the fact that there are rules for hobby and rules for commercial and that, in and of itself, induces those murky areas that nearly take a degree law to understand. The one phrase that I use to cut down on the confusion is one that was mentioned by an FAA official when asked to define commercial use and the answer was "In Furtherance of Any Business"

So that is the metric that I think anyone can apply. If we're taking pictures and video and not selling them, not posting for profit or monitization, or giving to someone to use in their business, then it's pure hobby.

"I just gave it to him 'cause I thought he'd like to see pictures of his tractors. If you don't like him using it for his business, take it up with him."

"You can't fine me for flying a drone without a 107, I didn't fly the drone. Take it up with the drone owner."
 
There may be some slight differences between UK and US rules but as far as here in the States; @FlushVision is correct, sales of the media taken, whether it is photo or video is not necessarily the only way media can be used commercially.

For instance lets say you have a business in which you sale tractors and you are building a website and you want a shot of your inventory from the air for a header page of that site and you fly and take the picture and put it on your website - that is commercial use without direct sales of the actual media - but it is being used in 'Furtherance of a Business'. Or perhaps you take a little video of your latest tractor in the field and put it on a youtube channel that is somehow specifically linked to you business, again no direct sales but it is used in furtherance of a business.
I know that your correct in your assessment of commercial use without direct sales but why is it that the gov't gets to decide this for us? It's revenue generated greed on behalf of the gov't. Not to mention that I just like to stir the pot. Why isn't the gov't taxing people who use dslr cameras to make a header for their self owned tractor dealer?

Governments job should be to bust the bad guys and leave the guys with the white hats alone. Hey Ty Pilot isn't your avatar's head gear black? HMMMM
 
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1 question if i take a photo from a private plane and post it online is that/need a 107,whatever happened to your right to photo/video in public
It disappeared when the government figured out a way to tax, fine or impose a fee on it!
 
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Right your example is pure hobbyist, no doubt.

I am one who thinks the rules are so narrowly written that they cause the kind of confusion that started this thread. This is especially true due to the fact that there are rules for hobby and rules for commercial and that, in and of itself, induces those murky areas that nearly take a degree law to understand. The one phrase that I use to cut down on the confusion is one that was mentioned by an FAA official when asked to define commercial use and the answer was "In Furtherance of Any Business"

So that is the metric that I think anyone can apply. If we're taking pictures and video and not selling them, not posting for profit or monitization, or giving to someone to use in their business, then it's pure hobby.
Ty Pilot if you think the FAA versus hobby flier is difficult you should try my profession. I have my DBA and vehicles licensed in South Dakota. In SD I have a commercially plated vehicle. I travel to numerous states hauling people confined to wheelchairs or stretchers. When I go into MN I can't be a commercial vehicle.

I have to either go get a new plate everytime I go into MN, license my soccer mom mini-van as a 26,000 pound semi-truck or get certified by the MN Special Transportation Services as a bus that can't be a bus or put a gun to my head and pull the trigger because I can't drive from one state to the next because they want you registered as a commercial vehicle that can't be a commercial in the other state. Don't want to even throw in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin etcetera because then you'd have to figure out how to comply with 50 other states and how those 50 states can or can't comply with the other 49.

My point being is that if you take a look at the big picture it's all about control and revenue generation.
 
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In this thread I am just discussing the 'mechanics' of the rules . . . . if you want to hear what I think about the politics behind them, well that is a different story. ;)?

One thing I will point out in regards to commercial operations is this; the money spent to get a commercial certification in the US (107). . . .does NOT go to the government - it goes to those that administer the test, or those that give us the means to pass it - such as a online course, both are typically non governmental - privately owned businesses. But if you ask if I'm happy about the way the government is handling our hobby? Absolutely not, but neither am I happy with the ease with which someone with no knowledge or experience can get into the air without any regards to the responsibility that must go hand in hand with those operations.

The fact of the matter is this: for most of my lifetime, those of us that flew RC aircraft (which in the latter part of the 20th century became far more dangerous than the 'drones' we fly today), were given a pass by the FAA, we were self-governed by the same 'community based organizations' that make up the hobby side today. . . that is, up until the emergence of the 'consumer drone'.

When the modern multi-rotor became mainstream, everything changed - it had to. Like it or not, (and I don't) we are on the governmental 'radar' because we (as a hobby/emerging industry) did not govern ourselves. Prior to the multi-rotor era you didn't see YouTube videos of people flying RC aircraft into buildings, houses or crashing into places that weren't approved RC flying sites. But now? This is a regular occurrence, and the impact this has is what we are seeing in terms of regulations today.
 
For me it's as simple as the gun regulations and many of the political elites trying to confiscate our guns. No matter how many regs you write the bad guys are just going to ignore them while the conscientious person gets overwhelmed with rules that get so intricate that it's impossible for 2 people to agree on them and at times they become contradictory.

So what if as a hobbyist you take images and post them and someone else puts them up on your site? Is that breaking the law? Common sense and the values you guys had back in the day of RC is dwindling. It's all rules, regs, procedures, statutes and codified laws. The state of MN has put me out of business through corrupt and purposeful misinterpretations of the MN statutes.

1984 is coming to a theatre near you.
 
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Ty Pilot like every gov't endeavor the FAA will just phase out us drone hobbyist fliers and only allow big money makers like Amazon, UPS etcetera to dominate the skies?

That’s been my perception since 2008, when they assembled the first ARC committee. Although I’ve earning people at every opportunity since, I won’t say “told you so”.
 
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1 question if i take a photo from a private plane and post it online is that/need a 107,whatever happened to your right to photo/video in public

If you were familiar with full scale regulations you would know a private pilot is not required to have a commercial rating to take photos from a full scale airplane.

If you were familiar with privacy and copyright laws you would know you can take pictures in a public setting with a hand held camera most of the time, but what you can publish without permissions is limited.
 
"You can't fine me for flying a drone without a 107, I didn't fly the drone. Take it up with the drone owner."

The above is not true as the FAA made it clear that anyone that “contracts” with or encourages a non 107 operator to record images for commercial use can be held liable for up to 10 times the fine imposed on the actual operator.
 
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The above is not true as the FAA made it clear that anyone that “contracts” with or encourages a non 107 operator to record images for commercial use can be held liable for up to 10 times the fine imposed on the actual operator.

I want to use that and have it ready for reference. Do you have a link to this FAA statement?
 

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