Small Unmanned Aircraft Book

[Lorin Searing]

Youcan fly during daylight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time) or in twilight if your drone has anti-collision lighting. Minimum weather visibility is three miles from your control station. The maximum allowable altitude is 400 feet above the ground, higher if your drone remains within 400 feet of a structure. Maximum speed is 100 mph (87 knots).

Your drone can carry an external load if it is securely attached and does not adversely affect the flight characteristics or controllability of the aircraft. You also may transport property for compensation or hire within state boundaries provided the drone (including its attached systems), payload, and cargo, weighs less than 55 pounds total and you obey the other flight rules. (Some exceptions apply to Hawaii and the District of Columbia.)

You can request waiver of most restrictions if you can show your operation will provide a level of safety at least equivalent to the restriction from which you want the waiver. Some of the most requested waivers are for operations beyond visual line of sight, during nighttime, and over people. See FAADroneZone below for more information on requesting waivers.

When you register your drone, you will receive a registration number that you must put on the drone. You can engrave the number, put it on a permanent label, or use a permanent marker. Remember to carry your registration with you when operating your drone.

If you have a Part 61 certificate, you will immediately receive a temporary remote pilot certificate when you apply for a permanent certificate. Other applicants will obtain a temporary remote pilot certificate upon successful completion of TSA security vetting. We anticipate we will be able to issue temporary certificates within 10 business days after receiving a completed application.

You are responsible for ensuring a drone is safe before flying, but the FAA does not require small drones to comply with current agency airworthiness standards or obtain aircraft certification. For example, you will have to perform a preflight inspection that includes checking the communications link between the control station and the drone.

Currently, LAANC only applies to FAA ATC facilities and does not yet include contract or Department of Defense ATC facilities. Authorizations for those facilities need to follow the manual process through FAADroneZone.

FAADroneZone is a one-stop, online shop for drone registration and for requesting waivers or airspace authorizations (where LAANC is not available). For example, if you want to fly at night, beyond your visual line of sight, over people, or perform other complex actions. Visit the site for more details. The FAA generally responds to waiver requests within 90 days, depending on the complexity of the request.

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The provisions of part 21 of this chapter do not apply to small unmanned aircraft systems operated under this part unless the small unmanned aircraft system will operate over human beings in accordance with 107.140.

The following definitions apply to this part. If there is a conflict between the definitions of this part and definitions specified in 1.1 of this chapter, the definitions in this part control for purposes of this part:

No later than 10 calendar days after an operation that meets the criteria of either paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, a remote pilot in command must report to the FAA, in a manner acceptable to the Administrator, any operation of the small unmanned aircraft involving at least:

No person may manipulate the flight controls of a small unmanned aircraft system or act as a remote pilot in command, visual observer, or direct participant in the operation of the small unmanned aircraft if he or she knows or has reason to know that he or she has a physical or mental condition that would interfere with the safe operation of the small unmanned aircraft system.

A person manipulating the flight controls of a small unmanned aircraft system or acting as a remote pilot in command or visual observer must comply with the provisions of 91.17 and 91.19 of this chapter.

No person may operate a small unmanned aircraft in Class B, Class C, or Class D airspace or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport unless that person has prior authorization from Air Traffic Control (ATC).

A remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system must comply with all of the following operating limitations when operating a small unmanned aircraft system:

A refusal to submit to a test to indicate the percentage by weight of alcohol in the blood, when requested by a law enforcement officer in accordance with 91.17(c) of this chapter, or a refusal to furnish or authorize the release of the test results requested by the Administrator in accordance with 91.17(c) or (d) of this chapter, is grounds for:

A person may not exercise the privileges of a remote pilot in command with small UAS rating unless that person has accomplished one of the following in a manner acceptable to the Administrator within the previous 24 calendar months:

Training for pilots who hold a pilot certificate (other than a student pilot certificate) issued under part 61 of this chapter and meet the flight review requirements specified in 61.56 covers the following areas of knowledge:

This subpart prescribes the eligibility and operating requirements for civil small unmanned aircraft to operate over human beings or over moving vehicles in the United States, in addition to those operations permitted by 107.39(a) and (b).

If a Category 2 or Category 3 label affixed to a small unmanned aircraft is damaged, destroyed, or missing, a remote pilot in command must label the aircraft in English such that the label is legible, prominent, and will remain on the small unmanned aircraft for the duration of the operation before conducting operations over human beings. The label must correctly identify the category or categories of operation over human beings that the small unmanned aircraft is qualified to conduct in accordance with this subpart.

A small unmanned aircraft system may be eligible for one or more categories of operation over human beings under this subpart, as long as a remote pilot in command cannot inadvertently switch between modes or configurations.

The battle to keep Marines and their critical assets safe is constantly evolving. As technology advances, so does the need to field more cutting-edge equipment to counter threats, such as those posed by small unmanned aerial systems.

With these challenges in mind, Program Executive Officer Land Systems is fielding the Installation-Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Known as I-CsUAS, the system is designed to protect Marine Corps installations by detecting, identifying, tracking and defeating small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

I-CsUAS features an integrated system equipped to carry out all phases necessary to counter small unmanned aerial systems such as commercially-available drones, said Kelley. The system will primarily provide a service to ensure Marines or security forces have the capability to defend installations against sUAS at all times.

Fixed Site Project Officer for Program Manager Ground Based Air Defense at PEO Land Systems Maj. Kyle Yakopovich said I-CsUAS is intended to defeat Commercial Off-The-Shelf Group 1 and Group 2 UAS. I-CsUAS also provides detection, tracking and identification capabilities.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Infrastructure Security (IS) Division plans to incorporate the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) into its program offering exercises to critical infrastructure protection stakeholders to train for, assess, practice, and improve performance in prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery capabilities for natural or man-made attacks. Uses during exercises include capturing photographic and video images of the exercise activities and to use the sUAS as a simulated payload delivery mechanism for certain exercise scenarios. CISA is conducting this Privacy Impact Assessment to address the privacy impacts of the sUAS image-capturing capabilities. July 2019

Group 1 Small UAS are back-packable and used for 'over-the-hill' intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). With manual operator control or via a pre-programmed route of flight and uses onboard sensors and communications equipment to gather and transmit imagery of the objective area back to the ground control station and remote video receive terminals. The Group 1 portfolio currently consists of the RQ-11B Raven, RQ-12A Wasp and RQ-20A Puma. Together, they form the Small Unit Remote Scouting System (SURSS) Program of Record. Non-program of record systems within the portfolio consist of SkyRanger and InstantEye vertical take-off and lift systems as well as the PD-100 Black Hornet micro UAS.

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