What Does Someone Need to Know When Flying a Drone
You bought a drone, and you desire to get the bombardment charged and take it out for its first test flight. Earlier y'all do that, you lot need to be aware of the rules and regulations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has put in place for flight drones in the US. And you should also know your rights, and the rights of those around you.
Flying for Fun vs. Flying for Money
Earlier you tin figure out exactly which rules apply to your drone, y'all need to make up one's mind how you'll be using it. If you're flying for fun and to share videos and images with friends, yous can get set up, registered, and tested in less than an hour. You just accept to pay a minor registration fee and pass a basic knowledge exam.
If you lot program on making money with your unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), yous'll need to take a more than rigorous examination and receive Part 107 certification. Once you're certified, y'all'll be able to apply your drone to capture photos and video to sell as stock imagery, work on picture show productions, take hold of aerial imagery at weddings or for real estate, and the like—pardon the pun, merely the sky's the limit.
Annals Your Drone
First off, if your drone weighs more than eight.8 ounces or 250 grams (and well-nigh consumer models do), you'll need to annals for an FAA identification number. The price is nominal: $5.
Your Abraham Lincoln allows yous to own and fly as many drones as you fancy for one price, for a menstruum of three years. Yous'll just need to identify your newly assigned identification number on the exterior of your drone. I use printable stickers, simply a label maker can be every bit handy for putting the identification number on your aircraft.
Delight take note that your sticker will need to exist placed on the exterior of the aircraft. This is a change from earlier rules, which permit you put the registration number inside the battery compartment.
Non every quadcopter on the marketplace needs to be registered. The DJI Mavic Mini and Mini 2 have a 249g takeoff weight, so they're exempted. You'll still need to obey the rules of the air, and you'll still demand a Part 107 document to fly the a lightweight drone for commercial purposes.
Know the Rules, Take a Examination
In add-on to registering your aircraft, you'll demand to follow the rules of the sky. They include:
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Wing at or below 400 feet
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Keep your drone inside sight
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Don't fly in restricted airspace
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Don't fly near other shipping, peculiarly near airports
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Don't fly over groups of people
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Don't fly over stadiums or sporting events
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Don't wing well-nigh emergency response efforts such every bit fires
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Don't wing nether the influence
A lot of these are simply mutual sense, and that's something you need to use when flight. In addition to the FAA rules, call back that National Parks accept banned the utilize of drones within their confines. It's a shame, considering aerial footage of beautiful locations like Yellowstone and Yosemite is a compelling reason to own a drone. On the other hand, some places should be costless of technological distractions. The airspace effectually Washington DC is also restricted.
TRUST test
Once you familiarize yourself with them, y'all'll need to take a short test to ostend that y'all've got a handle on the rules. The TRUST test is a complimentary online test, available through a number of FAA-approved websites. It'due south quick to take; budget a one-half-60 minutes or and then. It's set up similar corporate training systems, then yous can't fail the exam. If you get a question wrong, you tin can go on trying until yous select the right answer. Once y'all've passed the TRUST test, you'll become a PDF certificate to proceed on your smartphone or print out.
Some drones, including those made by DJI, include geofencing tools to identify restricted airspace and larn takeoff dominance if required. If y'all accept a model from some other brand, you can check out the FAA's B4UFLY app to make sure your flying program is sound and legal.
Remote ID
While it'southward not in place notwithstanding, the FAA has established Remote ID requirements for drones. Billed as a virtual license plate for the sky, Remote ID broadcasts your drone'due south position and telemetry. The FAA bills it as a necessary pace to facilitate more than complicated drone operations going forrad—if drone deliveries become a existent thing, the skies volition go much more crowded.
You don't have to worry about Remote ID now, and we've even so to see whatever consumer models that accept it built-in. At that place'southward plenty of time for manufacturers to add back up: The regulations go into effect on September 23rd, 2023.
Dealing With Disharmonize
Drone pilots have to recollect nearly more than merely the police force. There'south ever a potential for conflict with other humans, and you should consider others utilizing the spaces yous'll desire to fly over. Later on all, some people remember that it'southward totally acceptable to shoot a drone out of the air with a gun. And so what do you do if someone takes exception to your flying a drone around them?
Well, if they decide to use your quadcopter for target exercise, or otherwise damage it, the first guild of business organisation is to telephone call the constabulary. But it's best to defuse the situation before it gets to that. So, in the immortal words of Patrick Swayze, exist nice. Take a conversation virtually what you're doing. Maybe even prove the person the video feed from the drone photographic camera that'due south streaming to your telephone or tablet. Some folks are nether the impression that a drone flying 100 feet in the air is spying on them—show them just how wide-bending the video is from that altitude.
Of form, not everyone y'all encounter is reasonable. In those cases, you should be aware of where yous're continuing. Every bit with photography, location has a lot to practice with your right to fly. If you're on your own property, or public belongings, you are completely within your rights. But if y'all're on private property, the situation isn't in your favor. A holding owner (or representative of one, similar a security guard) can enquire you to land your drone and leave the bounds. If that'southward the situation, you should comply. If they demand your memory carte or try to detain you lot, however, that'southward some other ball of wax. Print out and behave a copy of The Lensman's Right with yous—it's a helpful resources to take whenever y'all're capturing images or video.
Don't Be Stupid
Flying a quadcopter is a lot of fun, and it lets you capture images and video that you lot tin can't get from ground level. Following the FAA rules and defusing conflict with others will go a long manner toward making it an enjoyable, and legal, experience. Likewise, use common sense, and avert activities like flying your copter over crowded spaces—go out the aerial shots of the US Open up and Super Bowl to the Goodyear Blimp.
Choosing the right fourth dimension of twenty-four hours to wing can also help to minimize interactions with other people, and improve the quality of your video footage. If you fly correct later on sunrise—the magic 60 minutes—you lot'll find that landscapes are bathed in golden light and look much better than they do in the harsh light of midday. Information technology requires you lot to get up early on in the morning and get to a location around dawn, but the results will be worth information technology, and nearly of the world will still be comatose.
If you know and follow the rules and use a fiddling bit of common sense, you'll certainly get a lot of enjoyment from your drone.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/drone-regulations-what-you-need-to-know