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When the Federal Aviation Administration first released rules for operating drones, they were for drones operated by hobbyists, and they were very similar to the rules for flying model aircraft.
Commercial uses were possible, but required a burdensome approval process that many ignored, choosing to fly their drones illegally. Worse, anyone operating a drone had to be a licensed pilot, which complicated the process.
Now that’s all changed. The FAA has released a new regulation, known as Part 107, which allows commercial operations of what the agency calls unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). For those who don’t want to read all 624 pages, there’s also a summary.
The new rule specifically states that commercial operations are allowed; it says what the operational limitations are and what the pilot certification involves. There’s also some information on the new parts of the process, such as approval by the Department of Homeland Security.
Commercial drones must be within 400 feet above ground level, except when they’re near a structure, where they can go as high as necessary as long as they’re within 400 feet of the structure. This is good news for drones that are used to inspect buildings, bridges, cell towers and other tall structures, where it is a lot easier and safer to use a drone for remote inspections rather than find a person willing to do it.
When they’re flying, the drones must be operated within the line of sight of the Remote Pilot in Command, which is the person who is directing the flight. But now you can have more than one person flying the drone (such as a camera operator, and a person managing the flight controls). You can also have an observer who can be the person keeping eyes on the drone.
While you can use the drone’s camera while flying, it does not meet the FAA’s see and avoid requirements. So you still have to have your eyes on the drone while flying it.
Another important change is that the FAA rules now allows an unlicensed person to fly a drone, as long as they’re supervised by someone with the remote pilot certificate. This means that you can have one licensed pilot and a lot of assistants, as long as the licensed pilot is actually in charge and on site with the drone operations.
To qualify for a remote pilot license, the operator must either pass an FAA test, or they can have a pilot’s license. Applicants with a pilot’s license will get their temporary drone license immediately. Others must wait for the DHS vetting process.
Other new features include approval for drones to carry external loads, which means you can use drones for delivery, but unfortunately for Amazon’s experiments with drone-borne freight service, autonomous operations aren’t part of the deal.
New FAA Rules Make Commercial Drone Flights Legal, Practical
Regardless of whether the weight comes from the aircraft itself or the payload, the total weight can’t exceed 55 pounds (25KG).
There is also an important difference between the rules for drones and established rules for aircraft operations. The FAA does not require an airworthiness certificate for drones. However, the pilot must perform a pre-flight inspection prior to flight and the drone must be registered with the FAA.
Beyond that, drone operations are for daylight only and require good weather. Twilight operations are allowed if the drone has appropriate lighting. Operations near airports have additional requirements, primarily involving communications with air traffic control. Notably, the FAA states that most of these requirements can be waived.
What this boils down to is that most of the current commercial uses of drones are allowed, as long as the aircraft and the pilot meet the requirements. Companies that want to use a drone to take real estate videos can do it fairly easily and cheaply. Television news networks can now launch drones with a minimum of delay and red tape as long as they don’t fly over people who aren’t involved in the operation of the drone.
An FAA press release addresses a number of potential uses including inspections of cell towers and railroad tracks. But it’s clear that the real potential goes far beyond just inspections.
During the last few months since hobbyist drones have received approval, companies have started innovating. Now they want to use drones to fly tools to workers on tall buildings and bridges. Other companies want to use them to monitor pollution and archeologists want to use them for visual and thermal imaging of potential research sites.
This level of innovation is sure to continue. Just use your imagination as to what you might be able to do if only you could lift something higher, view something from above, or deliver something from the sky. While you won’t see flying pizza just yet, there have already been tests of delivering defibrillators to first responders, spotting wildfires and managing crowds.
Reaching out further, how long will it be before we see a temporary internet site on a drone? Or how long will it be before we see find drones being used to control mosquitos? There’s no technical reason such a thing can’t be done today.
But I suspect that the uses that emerge will eclipse what I can think of because what a drone really offers is an inexpensive, safe and fairly reliable access to any elevated space that is normally out of reach of humans and is too expensive or impractical to be reached by other types of aircraft.
The remaining question is now that it’s available what will you do with it?