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FAA releases TRUST: Free online training required to fly drones recreationally

167 points by asix66 5y ago

wantsanagent 5y ago
This is just to build a national database of drone users right?
- plank_time 5y ago
  You already have to register your drone after purchase.
  - theli0nheart 5y ago
    You only need to register with the FAA for drones that weigh over 250g. https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/register_drone/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/register_drone/
    - airhead969 5y ago
      You only need to register knives longer than 2". is still an absolutely absurd imposition.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - theli0nheart 5y ago
        Not absurd at all. There are good reasons for it. People don't throw knives outside in random directions—nor do they "malfunction" in the way an electronic device can. Nor do knives require a manual to understand how to use them. At some point, a line does need to be drawn. Drones can be dangerous in unpredictable ways, outside of the control of the operator.
  - somehnguy 5y ago
    No you don't. You were required to register once as an operator, but the same ID number can be placed on any number of drones. I have been building & flying for about 6 years now, personally I don't bother with any of this stuff. Instead I just follow what should be common sense rules and have yet to have any issues.
- RIMR 5y ago
  How Orwellian /s
- yellowfish 5y ago
  more likely it's so there's a legal ability to prevent someone from flying drones around if they are causing problems
airhead969 5y ago
Effective immediately: You need a license before you can throw an American football in the US because it might break a window. How many decades were R/C planes and helicopters operating without a problem? Instead of police work, it's collective punishment with privacy invasion and barriers as the answer to salve MIC-generated paranoia. Firearms aren't even tracked this absurdly.
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  Many decades. My grandfather was an avid RC aircraft enthusiast. They are simply not comparable to the drones that are being sold nowadays. 30, 40 years ago, RC aircraft were a seriously difficult and expensive hobby to get into. You generally had to build the plane yourself, including fitting the electronics and servicing the gasoline engine. They were huge and difficult to fly, too, so, after putting in all that investment, you generally wouldn't even consider flying it yourself without finding a mentor in the hobby to show you how it's done. And you'd generally have to do it out of an RC airstrip that was operated by an RC aviation club that was very interested in self-policing. Hijinks would get you kicked out. So, yeah, 30, 40 years ago you didn't need something like this, because it was not a, "Some grandparent trying to Win Christmas can just blow $200 at Wal-Mart and give one of these to a 4-year-old," kind of thing. There were some much-needed barriers to entry back then. Nowadays apparently any idiot can have one, and yes, it is creating a legitimate problem. A couple years back I almost took a drone to the face when someone was whizzing it around at night, with the light off, trying to startle passersby for laughs. Thankfully I took it to the shoulder instead.
  - airhead969 5y ago
    America solve gun violence with regulation. Look how well it's working!
    - marcinzm 5y ago
      The US has basically non-existent gun regulation by developed world standards. Go compare the gun violence rates in the US with any country that actually regulates guns.
wil421 5y ago
It’s a 30 minute class and probably a no brainer for most people. Sometimes you have to take these for a fishing licenses or to ride a Jet Ski without a license. Hunter education courses are usually mandatory. In Florida you have to take certification course if you plan to Shark fish.
- prawn 5y ago
  You have to watch a video and answer basic questions before they give you a permit for Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park too. I have done that a couple of times, as well as Australia's simple drone test, and they're both no-brainers.
  - airhead969 5y ago
    Let's say you're in America rather than Australia, because context matters. If it happens a few people cannot operate domestic lawnmowers correctly and chase crowds down with them out of acts of terrorism because they slip a gasket, should we have licenses, certifications, and tracking of all lawnmowers? Is that a "no-brainer" too? Maybe we should think first before trying to regulate or educate ourselves out of every edge-case risk.
    - ocdtrekkie 5y ago
      This is ridiculous because the default use for a lawnmower is solely your own yard, and it doesn't fly. Most literally power down if they leave your hand. And the reality is that drone testing and licensing isn't based on hypothetical risks, but real world incidents which have disrupted public safety and caused injuries. So if you have sources for lawnmowers threatening the public safety and injuring anyone outside the owners' household, let me know.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - airhead969 5y ago
        Lawnmowers have aren't shopping carts. They don't know the boundaries of a yard. You haven't seen "The Lawnmower Man?" Carry or swing a running lawnmower upside down through a dense crowd, and it will injure many people.
makerofspoons 5y ago
This is great news. About a month ago a scofflaw drone pilot wiped out an entire generation of elegant terns: https://news.yahoo.com/generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110013203.html https://news.yahoo.com/generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110... More training and harsher penalties need to be proportional to the amount of damage recreational flyers can do.
- airhead969 5y ago
  That sounds terrible, but "more education" won't, and never will, change attitudes or behavior. Psychopaths will always do what they want. Going Big Mother on a particular sport for the actions of a few independent persons doesn't address anything other than destroy that sport. Wishful thinking does nothing.
  - hutzlibu 5y ago
    Psychopaths will not do bad things, if they fear real consequences. The course is very simple but basically a reminder of the rules. Now potential violaters are more aware of it. Combine that with real consequences - and the number of idiots flying close to airports or peoples bedrooms will get lower.
  - cecilpl2 5y ago
    Education is aimed at people who are well-intentioned but unaware, which is a vastly larger population than those who are intentionally causing harm. How will requiring people to take a 30 minute class "destroy the sport"?
    - handrous 5y ago
      Really, this seems like an effort to save "the sport". If a few people keep doing enough damage with these things, or generally behaving like jackasses, they're gonna receive a lot more regulation than just requiring a brief class, guaranteed.
  - briandear 5y ago
    Most drone “pilots” aren’t psychopaths. They just might not realize the hazards of flying their drone without airspace awareness.
prawn 5y ago
This is inline with recent changes in Australia. Here, there is an in-person training/accreditation process (costs a few thousand dollars) required for large drones and flying near controlled aerodromes, etc. Otherwise, you undertake a very simple online test that is just about impossible to get wrong. I dislike many impositions but it's not taxing at all for anyone making money with their drone. There'd be virtually no checks/enforcement though. I have flown thousands of times and never been chased up over anything. I know 10+ commercial drone operators and only one of them has ever been queried about his flying, and that was by marine parks authorities because they thought he'd flown in a conservation area (he knew the area very well and was a couple of metres outside it...).
- airhead969 5y ago
  The US isn't and doesn't work like Australia. No nanny state, TYVM. Fly a low-mass, little toy around, the government wanting you to get a license and track you like you're operating a nuclear reactor is absurd.
  - enticeing 5y ago
    Remind me in which way the licensing/permitting process for drones is at all similar to the licensing/permitting process for a nuclear reactor. I'm certain that a nuclear reactor takes much more than a 30 minute course to operate.
  - bdamm 5y ago
    The requirements for nuclear plant operators are quite a bit more burdensome than the new rules for drone operation. Flying a drone doesn't even require a drug test! Not the same at all.
    - jcranmer 5y ago
      Can't reply to parent, so I'll add my response here to illustrate what "quite a bit more burdensome" looks like. I don't know the requirements for operating a nuclear reactor, but here's the requirements to operate a water treatment plant: * A degree in engineering, environmental engineering, chemistry, physics from an accredited school. * Pass a licensing exam * For operating larger plants, a minimum of X years experience working at smaller plants first. * After getting your license, you're required to have N hours of continuing education requirements before you can renew your license. Something like 10 hours / year.
jaywalk 5y ago
This applies to ALL drones, including ones under 250g that don't need to be registered.
pininja 5y ago
The course can be found here [1]. The FAA designated 16 organizations to make materials for it, and we can take it from any one of them.. I look forward to reviews comparing them and finding the best one. [1] https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/knowledge_test_updates/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/knowledge_test_u...
- kfarr 5y ago
  I just did this one in about 20 mins after seeing this post: https://trust.dronelaunchacademy.com/ https://trust.dronelaunchacademy.com/ It was genuinely helpful to understand the regulations and the multiple choice test was easy. It did not however create a certificate so I did a pdf screenshot to save on gdrive in case I need it sometime later.
dahart 5y ago
Since the title * can be mis-interpreted to mean that you’ve never needed a license, I can forgive some commenters here from forgetting that just a few years ago, the only legal way to fly a drone was with an actual aircraft pilot’s license. Drone operators, rightly, thought that was pretty silly, but it took a number of years before the FAA crafted drone-specific rules and allowed drone flights under 400 feet without a license. Having to attend a short online training course about what the rules are and to stay away from people and out of the airspace of manned aircraft seems pretty reasonable, and perhaps necessary given the growing number of drone accidents in the recent past https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents * edit: the HN title has been changed for the better. To clarify for anyone reading this now, my comment was referring to the previous HN title: “Effective Immediately: You need a drone license before you fly in the US”
- syshum 5y ago
  If I remember correctly that legal requirement was rejected / nullified by legal challenge to the FAA n federal court,
- swiley 5y ago
  >the only legal way to fly a drone was with an actual aircraft pilot’s license. That must have been a rather large drone (or maybe what you mean is "fly a drone near an airport or city") since you don't even need a pilot's license to fly small planes in the US.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    You don't need a pilot's license* to fly ultralight category aircraft in the US, but for the category commonly called "small planes", you do. Ultralights are governed by Part 103 and limited to: single-seat, day-only, VFR-only, weighing less than 254 pounds, carrying 5 US gallons or less, and having a top speed of not more than 55 knots [calibrated]. * - Technically "certificate", but practically the same.
    - 5y ago
frankhhhhhhhhh 5y ago
RC car owners will also be required to have a state issued drivers license.
- sithadmin 5y ago
  Unlike drones, the average RC car doesn't carry a risk of killing/maiming people when they drop out of the air at near-terminal velocity. If a bus hits your RC car, at worst it gets a scratch or dent before the RC car is destroyed. Even a tiny drone, on the other hand, could easily take out a prop or turbine on an aircraft and lead to the death of the occupants or bystanders.
  - handrous 5y ago
    I don't get how people in this thread are failing to see that this is reactive, and pulling out ridiculous examples as equivalencies. Guess what? If people driving RC cars started causing problems like drones are, those would be regulated too. "Well next they'll require a license for RC cars, or lawn mowers!" Well... yeah, they will, if enough people cause serious-enough problems in public with those.
    - sleepybrett 5y ago
      ... and yet gun laws never seem to get any harsher...
      - handrous 5y ago
        Get one of the two major political parties to adopt protecting the right to fly drones as an unquestionable and heavily-promoted plank of their platform, then throw many millions of dollars behind interest groups supporting that message and activity, and the same thing will happen there. Oh, and maybe get an amendment passed about it. Guns are special in America.
      - briandear 5y ago
        They’re pretty harsh already. Shoot someone with a gun and you can spend 20+ years in prison. Assuming a district attorney does their jobs.
IgorPartola 5y ago
I might as well as an off topic questions here: 1. I recently moved and now have a sizable chunk of land attached to a much larger sized chunk of city-owned land which includes a huge open field. Seems like the perfect place to fly a drone. Will it be fun doing this or is this a thing that I would get bored from shortly after dropping serious money on it? 2. Are drones that follow you any good? Would love to do a video of myself riding a motorcycle while a drone follows me. 3. Any recommendations for a good beginner drone that isn’t $1000?
- nanidin 5y ago
  I think of my drone less as something fun to do, and more as a flying camera. Photography can be fun, but it involves a bit of planning. You will most likely get bored of flying in the same location over and over.
- sleepybrett 5y ago
  3) get a tiny-whoop style micro. They are generally under the weight requirement around a 100 bucks but are super great platform to learn on. They don't have all the fancy stabilization and idiot proofing that you might get with a dji style drone, these drone types came more from the RC/Racing community.
bgorman 5y ago
This is worrying. The FAA was never created to regulate drones. Hobbyist pilots have been safely flying RC planes for decades. We need to return regulatory power to legislators, not unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. Another example is the FCC- an agency created to regulate radio is now attempting to regulate internet service providers!
- DiffEq 5y ago
  They were created to regulate airspace and when you have people flying drones into planes and helicopters at airports then someone needs to step in.
  - bgorman 5y ago
    If someone wants to intentionally fly a drone into restricted airspace, this will not stop them. Furthermore, your claims about the FAA being created to restrict airspace is revisonist at best. https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history/ https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history/
    - DiffEq 5y ago
      So it is not revisionist. Airspace rules, in large part, is what creates the safety. And of course it is not going to stop malicious people. But it will create cooperation so accidents risk is reduced and it allows for one to be punished if they disregard the rules and are caught. It is against the law for people to play on the Interstate highway and I am sure you would have a problem with it if it wasn't and some kids decided to go build a fort in the middle of one.
- FlyMoreRockets 5y ago
  The FAA grew out of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 to ensure commercial development of aviation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_role_in_civil_aviation#Air_Commerce_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_role_...
  - 5y ago
carapace 5y ago
A few bad apples spoil the barrel, eh? Twice now I've had drones flying over my house with the operators nowhere to be found. I wouldn't mind so much if I could find the operator and ask them not to fly over my house but I can't. That's the fundamental problem with drone: the asymmetry.
- cronix 5y ago
  You will by 2023 when all drones need to have Remote ID transmitters installed, which shows the drone location, bearing and speed as well as the location of the controller. Mine already has it. https://www.engadget.com/faa-final-drone-rule-dates-184538960.html https://www.engadget.com/faa-final-drone-rule-dates-18453896...
  - carapace 5y ago
    Thanks for the tip. It's a start. But I don't see how this would work for me in the situation I described. Would I call the police or the FAA or what? > Remote ID helps the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly. > Authorized individuals from public safety organizations may request identity of the drone's owner from the FAA. https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/
    - cronix 5y ago
      You'd call either. Just like if there is other suspected illegal activity, you contact the branch of gov't that handles it and not involve yourself. If you see someone speeding, it's not legal to speed to catch them. You call the cops and let them deal with it. Personally I don't see this working at all, or at least won't have much of an effect. Most drone pilots aren't sitting there for hours in the same place waiting to get caught, especially if they are knowingly doing something bad. They usually fly for 15-30 minutes and go somewhere else. By the time the cops/faa get to you, the drone, pilot and all their "remote id" data are long gone. In a lot of major US cities, cops aren't even responding to anything but the most serious of crimes due to budget cuts and personnel shortages. I don't see how they will even have the time to follow up given the list of priorities they have, maybe unless the report included a weapon mounted on the drone (which has happened). And people intent on breaking the law just won't register or get a drone with Remote ID anyway. They'd build their own (it's a fun hobby and how all this drone stuff got started to begin with - the first ones just used arduinos with appropriate sensors [see ardupilot project]) or use some of the millions already in existence built in the last 15 years that don't have the capability.
sleepybrett 5y ago
... and yet I can buy an AR-15 and ammunition with no such requirements.
- cronix 5y ago
  They need to put drones in the constitution.
- briandear 5y ago
  I don’t recall ever having a near-miss with an AR-15 when on final approach. But I and many other pilots that fly frequently have many stories of drone near-misses. How many legal AR-15 owners are shooting at airplanes? How many drone “pilots” have interfered with air traffic? Drone incursions are a very big deal. Not a single case I have ever heard of in the US where an AR-15 has brought down an airplane. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incident...
  - andrewmunsell 5y ago
    Speaking about AR-15s bringing down airplanes is a false equivalence-- it would be more apt to compare drone incursions to incidents from negligent discharge or improper gun storage.
letterlib 5y ago
I mimic the top comment here. I used to be an aerial photographer in the Northeast about 7ish years ago when drones were still relatively new. You still had to build you own back then, you couldn't just BUY them. The regulations were super confusing. I even had cop sending me an email in case I ever needed anything, but I'm pretty sure at the time I wasn't really supposed to be flying because I didn't have a license. Regardless, regulations were ridiculously confusing so it's nice to see some clarity after all these years.
asix66 5y ago
OP here. The original title was not really wrong nor misleading, however I'm not opposed to it changing. Prior to TRUST, you did NOT need a license to fly any drones for recreational purposes. The FAA has had Part 107 in place for a while, which is a drone license, but only needed if you fly drones for commercial purposes. Now we have both. Part 107 for commercial drone flying. TRUST for recreational drone flying. I'm not opposed to either, and given that the TRUST test is very easy, I don't see any downside.
propwash 5y ago
The test is easier than a full part-107 exam and I was able to finish mine in less than half an hour for free. The FAA did the right thing by making the test free to take. If there were any fees involved, it would hinder adoption and work against FAA’s goal. Some might see the test as another thing to do, but making it free really does have a lower barrier of entry, and is a necessary step in the right direction which could’ve easily gone wrong if a fee was involved.

167 points by asix66 5y ago

wantsanagent 5y ago

This is just to build a national database of drone users right?

plank_time 5y ago
You already have to register your drone after purchase.
- theli0nheart 5y ago
  You only need to register with the FAA for drones that weigh over 250g. https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/register_drone/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/register_drone/
  - airhead969 5y ago
    You only need to register knives longer than 2". is still an absolutely absurd imposition.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - theli0nheart 5y ago
      Not absurd at all. There are good reasons for it. People don't throw knives outside in random directions—nor do they "malfunction" in the way an electronic device can. Nor do knives require a manual to understand how to use them. At some point, a line does need to be drawn. Drones can be dangerous in unpredictable ways, outside of the control of the operator.
- somehnguy 5y ago
  No you don't. You were required to register once as an operator, but the same ID number can be placed on any number of drones. I have been building & flying for about 6 years now, personally I don't bother with any of this stuff. Instead I just follow what should be common sense rules and have yet to have any issues.
RIMR 5y ago
How Orwellian /s
yellowfish 5y ago
more likely it's so there's a legal ability to prevent someone from flying drones around if they are causing problems

airhead969 5y ago

Effective immediately: You need a license before you can throw an American football in the US because it might break a window. How many decades were R/C planes and helicopters operating without a problem? Instead of police work, it's collective punishment with privacy invasion and barriers as the answer to salve MIC-generated paranoia. Firearms aren't even tracked this absurdly.

mumblemumble 5y ago
Many decades. My grandfather was an avid RC aircraft enthusiast. They are simply not comparable to the drones that are being sold nowadays. 30, 40 years ago, RC aircraft were a seriously difficult and expensive hobby to get into. You generally had to build the plane yourself, including fitting the electronics and servicing the gasoline engine. They were huge and difficult to fly, too, so, after putting in all that investment, you generally wouldn't even consider flying it yourself without finding a mentor in the hobby to show you how it's done. And you'd generally have to do it out of an RC airstrip that was operated by an RC aviation club that was very interested in self-policing. Hijinks would get you kicked out. So, yeah, 30, 40 years ago you didn't need something like this, because it was not a, "Some grandparent trying to Win Christmas can just blow $200 at Wal-Mart and give one of these to a 4-year-old," kind of thing. There were some much-needed barriers to entry back then. Nowadays apparently any idiot can have one, and yes, it is creating a legitimate problem. A couple years back I almost took a drone to the face when someone was whizzing it around at night, with the light off, trying to startle passersby for laughs. Thankfully I took it to the shoulder instead.
- airhead969 5y ago
  America solve gun violence with regulation. Look how well it's working!
  - marcinzm 5y ago
    The US has basically non-existent gun regulation by developed world standards. Go compare the gun violence rates in the US with any country that actually regulates guns.

wil421 5y ago

It’s a 30 minute class and probably a no brainer for most people. Sometimes you have to take these for a fishing licenses or to ride a Jet Ski without a license. Hunter education courses are usually mandatory. In Florida you have to take certification course if you plan to Shark fish.

prawn 5y ago
You have to watch a video and answer basic questions before they give you a permit for Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park too. I have done that a couple of times, as well as Australia's simple drone test, and they're both no-brainers.
- airhead969 5y ago
  Let's say you're in America rather than Australia, because context matters. If it happens a few people cannot operate domestic lawnmowers correctly and chase crowds down with them out of acts of terrorism because they slip a gasket, should we have licenses, certifications, and tracking of all lawnmowers? Is that a "no-brainer" too? Maybe we should think first before trying to regulate or educate ourselves out of every edge-case risk.
  - ocdtrekkie 5y ago
    This is ridiculous because the default use for a lawnmower is solely your own yard, and it doesn't fly. Most literally power down if they leave your hand. And the reality is that drone testing and licensing isn't based on hypothetical risks, but real world incidents which have disrupted public safety and caused injuries. So if you have sources for lawnmowers threatening the public safety and injuring anyone outside the owners' household, let me know.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - airhead969 5y ago
      Lawnmowers have aren't shopping carts. They don't know the boundaries of a yard. You haven't seen "The Lawnmower Man?" Carry or swing a running lawnmower upside down through a dense crowd, and it will injure many people.

makerofspoons 5y ago

This is great news. About a month ago a scofflaw drone pilot wiped out an entire generation of elegant terns: https://news.yahoo.com/generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110013203.html https://news.yahoo.com/generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110... More training and harsher penalties need to be proportional to the amount of damage recreational flyers can do.

airhead969 5y ago
That sounds terrible, but "more education" won't, and never will, change attitudes or behavior. Psychopaths will always do what they want. Going Big Mother on a particular sport for the actions of a few independent persons doesn't address anything other than destroy that sport. Wishful thinking does nothing.
- hutzlibu 5y ago
  Psychopaths will not do bad things, if they fear real consequences. The course is very simple but basically a reminder of the rules. Now potential violaters are more aware of it. Combine that with real consequences - and the number of idiots flying close to airports or peoples bedrooms will get lower.
- cecilpl2 5y ago
  Education is aimed at people who are well-intentioned but unaware, which is a vastly larger population than those who are intentionally causing harm. How will requiring people to take a 30 minute class "destroy the sport"?
  - handrous 5y ago
    Really, this seems like an effort to save "the sport". If a few people keep doing enough damage with these things, or generally behaving like jackasses, they're gonna receive a lot more regulation than just requiring a brief class, guaranteed.
- briandear 5y ago
  Most drone “pilots” aren’t psychopaths. They just might not realize the hazards of flying their drone without airspace awareness.

prawn 5y ago

This is inline with recent changes in Australia. Here, there is an in-person training/accreditation process (costs a few thousand dollars) required for large drones and flying near controlled aerodromes, etc. Otherwise, you undertake a very simple online test that is just about impossible to get wrong. I dislike many impositions but it's not taxing at all for anyone making money with their drone. There'd be virtually no checks/enforcement though. I have flown thousands of times and never been chased up over anything. I know 10+ commercial drone operators and only one of them has ever been queried about his flying, and that was by marine parks authorities because they thought he'd flown in a conservation area (he knew the area very well and was a couple of metres outside it...).

airhead969 5y ago
The US isn't and doesn't work like Australia. No nanny state, TYVM. Fly a low-mass, little toy around, the government wanting you to get a license and track you like you're operating a nuclear reactor is absurd.
- enticeing 5y ago
  Remind me in which way the licensing/permitting process for drones is at all similar to the licensing/permitting process for a nuclear reactor. I'm certain that a nuclear reactor takes much more than a 30 minute course to operate.
- bdamm 5y ago
  The requirements for nuclear plant operators are quite a bit more burdensome than the new rules for drone operation. Flying a drone doesn't even require a drug test! Not the same at all.
  - jcranmer 5y ago
    Can't reply to parent, so I'll add my response here to illustrate what "quite a bit more burdensome" looks like. I don't know the requirements for operating a nuclear reactor, but here's the requirements to operate a water treatment plant: * A degree in engineering, environmental engineering, chemistry, physics from an accredited school. * Pass a licensing exam * For operating larger plants, a minimum of X years experience working at smaller plants first. * After getting your license, you're required to have N hours of continuing education requirements before you can renew your license. Something like 10 hours / year.

jaywalk 5y ago

This applies to ALL drones, including ones under 250g that don't need to be registered.

pininja 5y ago

The course can be found here [1]. The FAA designated 16 organizations to make materials for it, and we can take it from any one of them.. I look forward to reviews comparing them and finding the best one. [1] https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/knowledge_test_updates/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/knowledge_test_u...

kfarr 5y ago
I just did this one in about 20 mins after seeing this post: https://trust.dronelaunchacademy.com/ https://trust.dronelaunchacademy.com/ It was genuinely helpful to understand the regulations and the multiple choice test was easy. It did not however create a certificate so I did a pdf screenshot to save on gdrive in case I need it sometime later.

dahart 5y ago

Since the title * can be mis-interpreted to mean that you’ve never needed a license, I can forgive some commenters here from forgetting that just a few years ago, the only legal way to fly a drone was with an actual aircraft pilot’s license. Drone operators, rightly, thought that was pretty silly, but it took a number of years before the FAA crafted drone-specific rules and allowed drone flights under 400 feet without a license. Having to attend a short online training course about what the rules are and to stay away from people and out of the airspace of manned aircraft seems pretty reasonable, and perhaps necessary given the growing number of drone accidents in the recent past https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents * edit: the HN title has been changed for the better. To clarify for anyone reading this now, my comment was referring to the previous HN title: “Effective Immediately: You need a drone license before you fly in the US”

syshum 5y ago
If I remember correctly that legal requirement was rejected / nullified by legal challenge to the FAA n federal court,
swiley 5y ago
>the only legal way to fly a drone was with an actual aircraft pilot’s license. That must have been a rather large drone (or maybe what you mean is "fly a drone near an airport or city") since you don't even need a pilot's license to fly small planes in the US.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  You don't need a pilot's license* to fly ultralight category aircraft in the US, but for the category commonly called "small planes", you do. Ultralights are governed by Part 103 and limited to: single-seat, day-only, VFR-only, weighing less than 254 pounds, carrying 5 US gallons or less, and having a top speed of not more than 55 knots [calibrated]. * - Technically "certificate", but practically the same.
  - 5y ago

frankhhhhhhhhh 5y ago

RC car owners will also be required to have a state issued drivers license.

sithadmin 5y ago
Unlike drones, the average RC car doesn't carry a risk of killing/maiming people when they drop out of the air at near-terminal velocity. If a bus hits your RC car, at worst it gets a scratch or dent before the RC car is destroyed. Even a tiny drone, on the other hand, could easily take out a prop or turbine on an aircraft and lead to the death of the occupants or bystanders.
- handrous 5y ago
  I don't get how people in this thread are failing to see that this is reactive, and pulling out ridiculous examples as equivalencies. Guess what? If people driving RC cars started causing problems like drones are, those would be regulated too. "Well next they'll require a license for RC cars, or lawn mowers!" Well... yeah, they will, if enough people cause serious-enough problems in public with those.
  - sleepybrett 5y ago
    ... and yet gun laws never seem to get any harsher...
    - handrous 5y ago
      Get one of the two major political parties to adopt protecting the right to fly drones as an unquestionable and heavily-promoted plank of their platform, then throw many millions of dollars behind interest groups supporting that message and activity, and the same thing will happen there. Oh, and maybe get an amendment passed about it. Guns are special in America.
    - briandear 5y ago
      They’re pretty harsh already. Shoot someone with a gun and you can spend 20+ years in prison. Assuming a district attorney does their jobs.

IgorPartola 5y ago

I might as well as an off topic questions here: 1. I recently moved and now have a sizable chunk of land attached to a much larger sized chunk of city-owned land which includes a huge open field. Seems like the perfect place to fly a drone. Will it be fun doing this or is this a thing that I would get bored from shortly after dropping serious money on it? 2. Are drones that follow you any good? Would love to do a video of myself riding a motorcycle while a drone follows me. 3. Any recommendations for a good beginner drone that isn’t $1000?

nanidin 5y ago
I think of my drone less as something fun to do, and more as a flying camera. Photography can be fun, but it involves a bit of planning. You will most likely get bored of flying in the same location over and over.
sleepybrett 5y ago
3) get a tiny-whoop style micro. They are generally under the weight requirement around a 100 bucks but are super great platform to learn on. They don't have all the fancy stabilization and idiot proofing that you might get with a dji style drone, these drone types came more from the RC/Racing community.

bgorman 5y ago

This is worrying. The FAA was never created to regulate drones. Hobbyist pilots have been safely flying RC planes for decades. We need to return regulatory power to legislators, not unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. Another example is the FCC- an agency created to regulate radio is now attempting to regulate internet service providers!

DiffEq 5y ago
They were created to regulate airspace and when you have people flying drones into planes and helicopters at airports then someone needs to step in.
- bgorman 5y ago
  If someone wants to intentionally fly a drone into restricted airspace, this will not stop them. Furthermore, your claims about the FAA being created to restrict airspace is revisonist at best. https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history/ https://www.faa.gov/about/history/brief_history/
  - DiffEq 5y ago
    So it is not revisionist. Airspace rules, in large part, is what creates the safety. And of course it is not going to stop malicious people. But it will create cooperation so accidents risk is reduced and it allows for one to be punished if they disregard the rules and are caught. It is against the law for people to play on the Interstate highway and I am sure you would have a problem with it if it wasn't and some kids decided to go build a fort in the middle of one.
FlyMoreRockets 5y ago
The FAA grew out of the Air Commerce Act of 1926 to ensure commercial development of aviation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_role_in_civil_aviation#Air_Commerce_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_government_role_...
- 5y ago

carapace 5y ago

A few bad apples spoil the barrel, eh? Twice now I've had drones flying over my house with the operators nowhere to be found. I wouldn't mind so much if I could find the operator and ask them not to fly over my house but I can't. That's the fundamental problem with drone: the asymmetry.

cronix 5y ago
You will by 2023 when all drones need to have Remote ID transmitters installed, which shows the drone location, bearing and speed as well as the location of the controller. Mine already has it. https://www.engadget.com/faa-final-drone-rule-dates-184538960.html https://www.engadget.com/faa-final-drone-rule-dates-18453896...
- carapace 5y ago
  Thanks for the tip. It's a start. But I don't see how this would work for me in the situation I described. Would I call the police or the FAA or what? > Remote ID helps the FAA, law enforcement, and other federal agencies find the control station when a drone appears to be flying in an unsafe manner or where it is not allowed to fly. > Authorized individuals from public safety organizations may request identity of the drone's owner from the FAA. https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/ https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/remote_id/
  - cronix 5y ago
    You'd call either. Just like if there is other suspected illegal activity, you contact the branch of gov't that handles it and not involve yourself. If you see someone speeding, it's not legal to speed to catch them. You call the cops and let them deal with it. Personally I don't see this working at all, or at least won't have much of an effect. Most drone pilots aren't sitting there for hours in the same place waiting to get caught, especially if they are knowingly doing something bad. They usually fly for 15-30 minutes and go somewhere else. By the time the cops/faa get to you, the drone, pilot and all their "remote id" data are long gone. In a lot of major US cities, cops aren't even responding to anything but the most serious of crimes due to budget cuts and personnel shortages. I don't see how they will even have the time to follow up given the list of priorities they have, maybe unless the report included a weapon mounted on the drone (which has happened). And people intent on breaking the law just won't register or get a drone with Remote ID anyway. They'd build their own (it's a fun hobby and how all this drone stuff got started to begin with - the first ones just used arduinos with appropriate sensors [see ardupilot project]) or use some of the millions already in existence built in the last 15 years that don't have the capability.

sleepybrett 5y ago

... and yet I can buy an AR-15 and ammunition with no such requirements.

cronix 5y ago
They need to put drones in the constitution.
briandear 5y ago
I don’t recall ever having a near-miss with an AR-15 when on final approach. But I and many other pilots that fly frequently have many stories of drone near-misses. How many legal AR-15 owners are shooting at airplanes? How many drone “pilots” have interfered with air traffic? Drone incursions are a very big deal. Not a single case I have ever heard of in the US where an AR-15 has brought down an airplane. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incidents https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UAV-related_incident...
- andrewmunsell 5y ago
  Speaking about AR-15s bringing down airplanes is a false equivalence-- it would be more apt to compare drone incursions to incidents from negligent discharge or improper gun storage.

letterlib 5y ago

I mimic the top comment here. I used to be an aerial photographer in the Northeast about 7ish years ago when drones were still relatively new. You still had to build you own back then, you couldn't just BUY them. The regulations were super confusing. I even had cop sending me an email in case I ever needed anything, but I'm pretty sure at the time I wasn't really supposed to be flying because I didn't have a license. Regardless, regulations were ridiculously confusing so it's nice to see some clarity after all these years.

asix66 5y ago

OP here. The original title was not really wrong nor misleading, however I'm not opposed to it changing. Prior to TRUST, you did NOT need a license to fly any drones for recreational purposes. The FAA has had Part 107 in place for a while, which is a drone license, but only needed if you fly drones for commercial purposes. Now we have both. Part 107 for commercial drone flying. TRUST for recreational drone flying. I'm not opposed to either, and given that the TRUST test is very easy, I don't see any downside.

propwash 5y ago

The test is easier than a full part-107 exam and I was able to finish mine in less than half an hour for free. The FAA did the right thing by making the test free to take. If there were any fees involved, it would hinder adoption and work against FAA’s goal. Some might see the test as another thing to do, but making it free really does have a lower barrier of entry, and is a necessary step in the right direction which could’ve easily gone wrong if a fee was involved.