Got My Drone License

I finally got my Part 107 license, which makes me an official Commercial UAV Pilot. I got the license in October, but am finally writing about it because the weather is getting better and I’ve been finally practicing flying around and getting used to all of the options my Mavic 2 Pro has. I tried using my iPhone to fly, but realized with the amount of options in the interface I needed to see everything on a bigger screen, so I went and got an iPad, which is so much better.

Studying

After studying for a few weeks I felt confidant in taking the test until I sat down to take the test! It was a super rainy day, which sucked, and I was the only person in the room taking the test at the Southern Maine Aviation LLC in Sanford, Maine. After the first few questions, I thought, “No way, I’m going to fail this!” I hadn’t taken a test in years, but…I got a 91!

I watched three 2 hour long ‘test prep guides’ on YouTube and had the print outs of the official FAA study guides (that are huge), but I went through them both to get all of the details, which is super helpful. How to read weather reports, no fly zones, flight maps, and all of the rules and regulations are very important to know to be a responsible pilot, but damn, it does seem overkill to be able to fly a drone. Overkill or not, I felt very good about learning the ins and outs of aviation. It’s funny…I tell people I have a drone license and they respond, “You need a license to fly those?”. Yup.

My Drone

I researched and decided to buy the Mavic 2 Pro and am pretty happy with my choice. Flying and making everything look smooth is kind of tricky, so I’ve found the intelligent flight modes are super helpful. I really like the “auto-tracking” and “point of interest” options right now. You can draw a square around your subject and the drone will intelligently and smoothly fly around the object you’re trying to track. There is also a “tap to fly” option which is pretty cool too.

After registering your drone with the FAA, you have to have your official FAA license number on your drone as well as your phone number in case people find it in a tree or something if you were unlucky enough to lose it.

Any questions, you’ll find me in the pilots lounge at the local airport…after hours of course. No drinking before flying. Those are the rules.