107 at night?

[Weston Ney]

I am a hobbyist pilot right now, I can fly my drone all night as long as I have a anti-collision light on my drone that can be seen from any angle up to 3 statute miles away. But, when I get my part 107, does that all go away? I know that I can in theory fly under the hobbyist rules, but what if I want to fly at night for work?

 

[mossphotography]

First off, you don't need 3SM lights if you fly under hobby rules. That may change though. But unlikely. You just have to have OEM lights on your drone that show attitude and altitude (according to AMA's CBO).

For commercial work, you do need the 3SM lights, as well as a 107.29 waiver.

 

[Weston Ney]

First off, you don't need 3SM lights if you fly under hobby rules. That may change though. But unlikely. You just have to have OEM lights on your drone that show attitude and altitude (according to AMA's CBO).

For commercial work, you do need the 3SM lights, as well as a 107.29 waiver.

So if it's for work, and I had a part 107, I have to wait 6+ months to possibly get a waiver to fly at night, but if I'm an uneducated kid flying as a hobbyist I can fly all night any night?

Sounds strange, seems like the person with all the knowledge that a part 107 holder has should be allowed to fly at night before some guy who doesn't know anything about drones.

 

[BigAl07]

Here's the important part from your comment:

it's for work

It's For Work.... no part of that is Hobby/Recreational so how in the world can you fly under the "benefit" of Recreational Rules?

Work = Part 107 .....End of discussion. Nothing else is relevant beyond that point.

So if it's for work, and I had a part 107, I have to wait 6+ months to possibly get a waiver to fly at night,

How long have you had your Part 107? You could have applied the day you got your passing score so that's NO excuse.

but if I'm an uneducated kid flying as a hobbyist I can fly all night any night?

Sounds strange, seems like the person with all the knowledge that a part 107 holder has should be allowed to fly at night before some guy who doesn't know anything about drones.

Seems kind of condescending the way you put it and many of our Non-Part 107 operators may not appreciate your tone.

The reasons there are(were) 2 sets of rules have absolutely NOTHING to do with education etc. I think everyone should have to fly by Part 107 rules or stricter.

Congress mandated that the FAA make "allowances" for Hobby operations and restricted them from making new rules against Hobby operators until recent changes from the POTUS brought things back into a more reasonable realm. It's a LOT bigger more complex deal than that but that's the Cliff's Notes version and should suffice for this conversation.

Being educated about how/why the rules are the way they are/were is almost as important as understanding them. Almost as important as understanding that you can NOT mix & match hobby/commercial operations. You are either flying for fun as a hobby/recreational operator or you're flying for WORK. You can't have it both ways.

Weston, if you're going to go around giving Rule/Regulation advice you need to step up your game and be a lot more up to speed on the in's & outs of them.

 

[Weston Ney]

Here's the important part from your comment:


It's For Work.... no part of that is Hobby/Recreational so how in the world can you fly under the "benefit" of Recreational Rules?

Work = Part 107 .....End of discussion. Nothing else is relevant beyond that point.


How long have you had your Part 107? You could have applied the day you got your passing score so that's NO excuse.



Seems kind of condescending the way you put it and many of our Non-Part 107 operators may not appreciate your tone.

The reasons there are(were) 2 sets of rules have absolutely NOTHING to do with education etc. I think everyone should have to fly by Part 107 rules or stricter.

Congress mandated that the FAA make "allowances" for Hobby operations and restricted them from making new rules against Hobby operators until recent changes from the POTUS brought things back into a more reasonable realm. It's a LOT bigger more complex deal than that but that's the Cliff's Notes version and should suffice for this conversation.

Being educated about how/why the rules are the way they are/were is almost as important as understanding them. Almost as important as understanding that you can NOT mix & match hobby/commercial operations. You are either flying for fun as a hobby/recreational operator or you're flying for WORK. You can't have it both ways.

Weston, if you're going to go around giving Rule/Regulation advice you need to step up your game and be a lot more up to speed on the in's & outs of them.

Sorry if I was offensive.
I am confused because I have heard from many different people completely different things, and the FAA documentation isn't always perfectly clear on what the laws are. For example on YouTube everybody is advertising the lume cube strobe, and saying as a hobbyist under the new rules that you must have a strobe that blinks white or red and can be seen from all angles of the drone up to three statute miles in order to fly at night as a hobbyist. (Including channels like 51Drones, that seems to be pretty spot-on with new laws and rules.)
But on this forum, I am having people say that hobbyists do not need a strobe. So the laws are very confusing, and I don't know who to trust. The reason I am asking these questions is because I truly do want to follow the rules, and I never want to be breaking any of them. But on my quest to find out the rules, it is very hard to find black and white answers to my questions. Maybe I should have known that before going into this. do you think that since it seems they are trying to make things easier for recreational pilot's in certain ways, such as making LAANC available to them, that they will soon make it easier for part 107 pilots to get waivers? Or follow certain rules to do things like fly at night?

 

[BigAl07]

Your first step would be to contact your local FSDO and get the Official Word directly from them. Those of us on the web (me included) have nothing to lose by giving you incorrect advice so why risk it?

Greater Chicago FSDO
Contact the Office

Address:
2300 E. Devon Avenue,
Suite #261,
Des Plaines, IL 60018
Phone: (847) 294-8700 Fax: (847) 294-8737
Email them at:
Send An Email

There are many sources for credible information but the only source you want to trust must be the FAA... they are the only ones that matter if there is an incident or if you are facing enforcement. Everything else is just words on the internet and nothing official.

Anything you get "official" make sure it's IN WRITING from the FAA... just saying, "I talked to this guy from the FAA on the phone and he said...." is not worth it's weight in air.

 

[Weston Ney]

Your first step would be to contact your local FSDO and get the Official Word directly from them. Those of us on the web (me included) have nothing to lose by giving you incorrect advice so why risk it?

Greater Chicago FSDO
Contact the Office

Address:
2300 E. Devon Avenue,
Suite #261,
Des Plaines, IL 60018
Phone: (847) 294-8700 Fax: (847) 294-8737
Email them at:
Send An Email

There are many sources for credible information but the only source you want to trust must be the FAA... they are the only ones that matter if there is an incident or if you are facing enforcement. Everything else is just words on the internet and nothing official.

Anything you get "official" make sure it's IN WRITING from the FAA... just saying, "I talked to this guy from the FAA on the phone and he said...." is not worth it's weight in air.

Thank you for your help.

 

[mossphotography]

So if it's for work, and I had a part 107, I have to wait 6+ months to possibly get a waiver to fly at night, but if I'm an uneducated kid flying as a hobbyist I can fly all night any night?

Sounds strange, seems like the person with all the knowledge that a part 107 holder has should be allowed to fly at night before some guy who doesn't know anything about drones.

All of the waivers I'm writing for people these days take about 7-10 days to get approved. 107.29 waivers haven't taken 6 months ever. At best there was a 3 month wait at the very beginning.

 

[Weston Ney]

All of the waivers I'm writing for people these days take about 7-10 days to get approved. 107.29 waivers haven't taken 6 months ever. At best there was a 3 month wait at the very beginning.

Oh, that's not too bad. I heard from some people that these waivers took longer, guess I can't believe everything I hear online...