FAA Part 107 · Commercial Pilots on Staff
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The part most operators would rather you didn't ask about.

Roughly a third of the sites we are asked to fly sit under controlled airspace. Getting into them legally is work — and whether that work gets done is the clearest dividing line in this industry.

Where your site sits

Airspace, and what each class means for your job.

Send us an address and we will tell you which of these applies before you commit to anything.

Class G — uncontrolled
Most rural and suburban ground. No authorization required below 400 feet above ground level. We can typically fly within our standard 3-day lead time.
Class E surface area
Controlled airspace extending to the surface, usually around airports without an operating control tower. Authorization is required. LAANC generally returns approval in minutes.
Class D
Airspace around smaller towered airports, typically a four-nautical-mile radius to 2,500 feet. Authorization required, usually with a grid-based altitude ceiling below the standard 400 feet. LAANC covers most facilities.
Class C
Busier towered airports with radar service. Authorization required and ceilings are frequently restrictive near approach corridors — 100 or 200 feet in places. We check the UAS Facility Map grid for your exact coordinates and tell you what altitude is genuinely available.
Class B
The largest airports in the country. Authorization is required and some grids are marked zero — meaning no automated approval is available at any altitude, and a manual FAA request is the only path. Those can take up to 90 days, so tell us early.
Prohibited and restricted areas
Certain airspace is closed to UAS outright. The Washington DC Flight Restricted Zone is the best-known example: no waiver exists, and an operator who offers to fly it is offering to break federal law on your behalf. We will decline and explain why.
Authorization

How we get into controlled airspace.

LAANC — the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability — is the FAA's automated approval system. It checks a proposed operation against the facility map for the controlling airport and, where the request falls within the pre-approved ceiling for that grid square, returns an authorization in under a minute.

Where LAANC cannot approve it — a zero-altitude grid, an operation above the published ceiling, or a facility outside the programme — the path is a manual request through FAA DroneZone. Those are reviewed by the controlling facility and can take up to 90 days. We file them, we track them, and we tell you honestly what the timeline looks like.

What we will not do is fly first and hope. An unauthorized incursion risks civil penalty and certificate action against the pilot, and it exposes you as the client who commissioned it.

Ask any operator

Four questions worth asking before you hire.

  1. What is your Part 107 certificate number?
  2. What class of airspace is my site in, and how did you determine that?
  3. Will this flight need an authorization, and who files it?
  4. Are your aircraft Remote ID compliant?

An operator who cannot answer all four quickly is telling you something important about how the rest of the engagement will go.

In detail

Certification, waivers, insurance and data.

Part 107 certification
Commercial drone work in the United States requires an FAA Remote Pilot Certificate under 14 CFR Part 107. Every pilot on our staff holds one, along with the recurrent training that keeps it current. Ask any operator for their certificate number — an operator who hesitates is telling you something.
Commercial Pilot Licenses
Our pilots also hold FAA Commercial Pilot Licenses earned in manned aircraft. That background brings a working fluency in sectional charts, weather products, airspace structure and aeronautical decision-making that a Part 107 knowledge test does not, on its own, produce.
Controlled airspace
Class B, C, D and surface-level Class E airspace all require authorization before a drone may operate there. We obtain it through LAANC where the facility supports automated approval, and through the FAA DroneZone portal where a manual request is required — a process that can take up to 90 days, which is why lead time matters.
Night operations
Night flight is permitted under §107.29 provided the pilot has completed the required training and the aircraft carries anti-collision lighting visible for three statute miles. Our pilots are current and our aircraft are equipped, which makes twilight and night work a normal part of what we offer rather than an exception.
Remote ID
Every aircraft in our fleet complies with the FAA Remote Identification rule, broadcasting identity and position throughout flight. Non-compliant aircraft have been grounded since the rule took effect, and any operator still flying one is operating illegally.
TFRs and special-use airspace
Temporary Flight Restrictions appear around VIP movements, stadium events, wildfires and disaster response, often with little notice. We check for them before every launch. Some areas — the Washington DC Flight Restricted Zone, for one — prohibit UAS operations outright with no waiver available, and we will tell you that rather than take the booking.
Privacy and data handling
We fly the objective and nothing else. Imagery is stored encrypted, shared only through private links, and never licensed to a third party or used in our own marketing without your written permission. Originals are retained for twelve months and then destroyed unless you ask otherwise.
Go / no-go

What grounds a flight.

These limits are written into our operations manual. They are not negotiable on the day, by us or by a client.

Sustained wind

Above manufacturer limit for the airframe, or gusts exceeding a 10-knot spread

Visibility

Below 3 statute miles from the control station

Cloud clearance

Less than 500 ft below or 2,000 ft horizontally from cloud

Precipitation

Any active precipitation, or icing conditions at altitude

Temperature

Outside the battery and airframe operating envelope

Airspace

Authorization not in hand, expired, or a TFR active over the site

Crew state

Duty limits exceeded, illness, or any crew member calling a stop

Site condition

Unbriefed people beneath the flight line, or an obstacle environment that changed

If a flight is grounded, it is rescheduled at no charge — and you hear from us that morning, not when we fail to arrive.

Procurement

Documents on request.

Pilot certificate numbers, FAA operator registration, our operations manual, and a W-9. Most are issued the same business day. Send the request through the contact form and tell us what your procurement process needs.

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Ready when you are

Put a certificated pilot over your site.

Pick a date, tell us what you need, and a commercial pilot reviews the airspace before we ever quote the job. Most requests are answered within one business day.

Request Services Ask a question first