How to Get a Remote Pilot Certificate for Commercial Drone Flight

Drones have made their way into the hands of consumers with a more affordable price tag, as well as increased quality in both video and photos. Flying a drone for recreation is a really good time. Soaring over the forests one day and tracking the waves as they crash into the beach on the next.

Drones & You

But be warned, if you intend to make a profit from flying a drone, you must first receive your Remote Pilot Certificate.

What Are You Working On?

Is it

You may need a Remote Pilot Certificate!

Remote Pilot Certificate

Disclaimer: This is not an ad for Drone Pilot Ground School, I am not being paid by them to talk about their services. I have taken the test for my Remote Pilot Certificate once and I chose to use Drone Pilot Ground School to learn the necessary information. So, all of the experience I have while preparing for my test was facilitated by their service.

Experience

Drone Pilot Ground School is the online resource I chose to get prepared for my test. You do have the ability to use the resources provided by the FAA, but you will spend a lot of time wondering how much of it will be on the test. With Drone Pilot Ground School you will be learning from people who are active in the drone community and have interacted with the test before.

I learn best when I have information presented to me in a video format. I learned how to code through a video course online, and I knew another online source would be best for me. There are other drone schools out there, but after a lot of research I found that Drone Pilot Ground School is the best service for your money.

“The Remote Pilot Certificate will allow you to fly in controlled airspace when approved by the FAA.”

Hours Spent Studying

Dollars Spent

Questions Missed

Focus

In my testing experience the questions that made up the majority of my test were about: Aeronautical Decision Making, Small UAS Loading & Performance, Small UAS Maintenance & Inspection, and Physiology. Also, Drone Laws & FAA Regulations, as well as reading Sectional Charts came in a close second on my test. Basically a little bit of everything. Drone Pilot Ground School has a great chart that shows the percentage of each category on the test.

“Drone Laws & FAA Regulations, as well as Aeronautical Decision Making make up a majority of the test.”

Sectional Chart

Learning Tips

I would recommend becoming extremely proficient in reading sectional charts. When you are given a map that has the answer, that’s an easy point. You should know what all of the elevations mean, how to use the legend and what runway 13 means when you are near an airport.

Weather

Weather was the hardest area for me. The METAR and TAF reports are difficult at first, but with enough practice they begin to make more sense. I would recommend spending a good portion understanding how to decipher the information from these reports.

Outcome

Overall, all of the information is important. I went into the test thinking that surely there would be some things on it that I wouldn’t know. After taking the test I felt as if I had over prepared, which is the way you want to feel going into a test. Out of 60 questions you can miss 18 and still pass, because of Drone Pilot Ground School I only missed 2!

They provide 5 practice tests, each with 60 questions and I took each of those at least 4 times and tried to work my score up to at least 90%. It was easy to go back to a few lectures and go over things that had slipped my mind.

I can’t stress enough that performing well on the practice tests will directly correlate to a good score come testing time.

“Performing well on the practice tests will directly correlate to a good score come testing time.”

Follow the Rules

Let’s talk a bit about why getting a remote pilot certificate is important. The FAA does not mess around when it comes to governing airspace and not forgiving people who are breaking the rules. If you have thoughts about trying to fly under the radar without a certificate I would urge you to reconsider.

Register

It doesn’t matter if you are going to fly commercially or just for fun, you MUST register your drone. It only costs $5 and you can do that on the FAA’s website.

Not registering your drone could have you facing serious penalties.

Failing to Register

Failure to register an unmanned aircraft that is required to be registered may result in regulatory and criminal penalties. The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years. (Source)

Civil Penalties

The FAA website doesn’t put any penalties up front. Digging through 14 CFR part 13 will specify the penalties the FAA may impose in response to a regulatory violation.

They do have a handy FAQ about unmanned drone flight. It’s important to be careful when using a drone and understanding that while you may not think your drone is causing any harm, it’s possible you just aren’t aware of it.

Did You Know?

You could be fined up to $27,500 for not registering your drone!

Money

However, searching for dollar amounts is difficult still. The penalties described in the chart cover all kinds of infractions. You should know that depending on the violation a person could see a penalty of up to $13,066 when flying their drone unlicensed for commercial use.

Referencing the different types of penalties can be done here. These penalties relate to the chart found on the dollar amount graph, specifically stating the amount that cannot be exceeded for punishment.

Legal Action

14 CFR part 13 doesn’t just cover remote pilots. The groups of legal enforcement actions describe the process and different types of civil penalties.

Airspace

Entering controlled airspace is an infraction all on its own. This type of activity is extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by an unlicensed pilot. If you find your work or recreation taking you into controlled airspace you must cease flying. A pilot with their Remote Pilot Certificate can apply for a waiver 90 days in advance of their planned flight and may only fly in controlled airspace if the FAA approves that waiver.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully you learned something. Good luck on your test!