FAR Part 107 (Small UAS / Drone Rule)

Part 107 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations is the FAA framework for flying small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for a commercial purpose. It applies to drones that weigh at least 0.55 pounds and less than 55 pounds at takeoff — the same weight band that triggers FAA registration — whenever the flight is conducted in furtherance of a business or for compensation. Recreational flying falls under a separate exception rather than Part 107, so the moment a school, an instructor, or an operator earns money from drone work, Part 107 is the governing rule.

The cornerstone of Part 107 is the Remote Pilot Certificate with a small UAS rating. Under 14 CFR 107.61, an applicant must be at least 16 years old, be able to read, speak, write, and understand English, and be in a physical and mental condition to operate safely. The standard path is to obtain an FAA Tracking Number through IACRA, then pass the Unmanned Aircraft General (UAG) aeronautical knowledge test at an approved testing center. The test covers airspace classification, weather, loading, crew resource management, and the operating rules themselves. Applicants also clear a TSA security vetting before the certificate is issued. A shortcut exists for existing airmen: a pilot who already holds a certificate issued under 14 CFR Part 61 (other than student pilot) and has a current flight review under 61.56 may skip the proctored test and instead complete a free online training course through the FAA Safety Team.

The operating limitations define what a certificated remote pilot may actually do. Flights are capped at 400 feet above ground level (or within 400 feet of a structure), must remain within the remote pilot's unaided visual line of sight, and are permitted in daylight or civil twilight, with the aircraft showing anti-collision lighting after sunset. Maximum groundspeed is 100 mph, and one remote pilot in command may operate only one aircraft at a time. Operations in controlled airspace require prior authorization, most commonly through the LAANC system. Where a school needs to exceed these limits — beyond visual line of sight, over people, or at night without the standard conditions — it applies for a waiver under Part 107 Subpart D, demonstrating an equivalent level of safety.

Two further obligations bear on ongoing compliance. Remote Identification, mandatory for nearly all drone operations since March 2024, requires the aircraft to broadcast its identity, location, and altitude via built-in capability or an add-on module. And knowledge currency does not expire with a single test: a remote pilot must complete recurrent training covering the current areas of aeronautical knowledge every 24 calendar months to keep exercising the certificate's privileges.

For a flight school, Part 107 represents one of the most accessible revenue diversifications available. The barrier to adding drone or UAS instruction is far lower than for a new aircraft type or a fresh Part 141 course — the certificate requires no medical, no logged flight hours, and only a knowledge test. Schools already fluent in aeronautical knowledge, airspace, and weather are well positioned to teach the UAG syllabus and to run test-prep courses that feed real students into a growing commercial market covering aerial survey, inspection, real-estate imaging, and agriculture.

The operational discipline Part 107 demands also mirrors what schools already do for manned training. Remote pilots need currency tracking, endorsement records, and evidence of recurrent training on a 24-month cycle; commercial drone operations generate maintenance logs, incident reports, and airspace-authorization records that an FAA inspector or an insurer may ask to see. A school that treats its UAS activity with the same record-keeping rigor it applies to its Cessnas will find the compliance burden entirely manageable and the audit trail already familiar.

Aviatize's Training Management module lets a school run a Part 107 test-prep program alongside its manned-flight courses, tracking each candidate's ground-school progress, knowledge-test readiness, and the 24-month recurrent-training clock so no remote pilot's privileges quietly lapse. Because currency and recurrent-training deadlines are date-driven, the platform can surface the next-due dates on a dashboard rather than leaving them buried in a spreadsheet.

Where a school operates drones commercially rather than only teaching, the Compliance & Auditing and Digital Data & Records modules retain the airspace authorizations, incident reports, and maintenance history that Part 107 operations accumulate, keeping a defensible record for insurers and FAA inquiries. Aviatize does not file waivers or register aircraft on the school's behalf, but it centralizes the documentation that those processes depend on.