Operating Rules

Performance Limitations

All four are § 107.51, verified 2026-09-03 against eCFR title 14, issue date 2026-08-31.

• Maximum groundspeed: 87 knots (100 mph)
• Maximum altitude: 400 feet AGL — unless flown within a 400-foot radius of a structure, in which case you may climb up to 400 ft above that structure's uppermost limit
• Minimum visibility: 3 statute miles from the control station
• Cloud clearance: 500 feet below clouds, 2,000 feet horizontal from clouds

Visual Line of Sight (VLOS)

The Remote PIC and person manipulating the controls must be able to see the aircraft at all times — with vision unaided by anything other than corrective lenses. VOs (if used) are also bound by this requirement.

• You must be able to see the aircraft well enough to determine its location, altitude, direction of flight, and surrounding airspace, and to determine that it is not endangering persons or property
• Vision aids (binoculars) may be used only momentarily to enhance situational awareness — for example, to confirm that you are clear of people or other aircraft
• If you unintentionally lose sight of the aircraft, attempt to regain VLOS immediately
• If you intentionally lose sight (operational necessity), regain VLOS as soon as practicable

Civil Twilight & Night Operations

Operations during civil twilight or at night require additional steps. Night is the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight (per 14 CFR § 1.1, using The Air Almanac).

• In the contiguous US: Evening civil twilight is sunset to 30 minutes after sunset. Morning civil twilight is 30 minutes before sunrise to sunrise.
• Anti-collision lighting: Required for civil twilight and night operations. Must be visible for at least 3 statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid collision. The RPIC may dim it if operating conditions make that safer, but may not extinguish it (§ 107.29(a)(2), (b)).
• Night flying also has a currency condition, and it is easy to miss. § 107.29(a)(1) permits night operations only if the remote pilot in command completed an initial knowledge test or the recurrent training under § 107.65 after 6 April 2021 — the date the night rule changed. Lighting alone is not enough.
• Avoid self-imposed stressors that limit night vision: exhaustion, low blood sugar, tobacco use
• Use off-center viewing (look 5°–10° off the aircraft) to compensate for the night blind spot in the fovea
• Avoid bright lights after dark adapting — dim the control station display
• Designate VOs to scan for traffic if possible
• Establish a lit landing area
• Land immediately if you cannot determine your aircraft's position relative to other aircraft

Right of Way

Under Part 107, the Remote PIC has a duty to see and avoid. The sUAS has the lowest priority among all aircraft.

• Know the location and flight path of your aircraft at all times
• Be aware of other aircraft, persons, and property in the operating area
• Yield right of way to all other aircraft (manned or unmanned)
• Maneuver to avoid collision and prevent other aircraft from having to take evasive action
• Do not operate where presence of the sUAS would interfere with airport operations — approach corridors, taxiways, runways, helipads

Restricted, Prohibited, and Special-Use Airspace

You may not operate in prohibited or restricted airspace without permission from the controlling agency. Under 14 CFR § 107.47, the Remote PIC must comply with:

• 14 CFR § 99.7 — Special Security Instructions
• 14 CFR § 91.137 — TFRs in disaster/hazard areas
• 14 CFR § 91.138 — TFRs in Hawaii national disaster areas
• 14 CFR § 91.139 — Emergency air traffic rules
• 14 CFR § 91.141 — TFRs near the President or other VIPs
• 14 CFR § 91.143 — Flight limitations near space flight operations
• 14 CFR § 91.144 — Operations during abnormally high barometric pressure
• 14 CFR § 91.145 — Aerial demonstrations and major sporting events

Airspace Authorizations

• Do not contact ATC directly for an airspace authorization
• Apply via FAA DroneZone or LAANC (Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability) as appropriate
• Request authorization as early as possible before any operation in Class B, C, or D airspace, or within the lateral surface boundary of Class E airspace designated for an airport
• Class G airspace generally does not require authorization (verify with sectional chart)

Frequency Interference

• Many sUAS use unlicensed frequency bands shared with Wi-Fi and other wireless devices — congestion can affect command/control and video links
• Consult the manufacturer's manual for specific frequencies before operating
• Direct line of sight is required for radio link reliability — barriers between control station and aircraft can cause command loss

Operations Over People

14 CFR § 107.39 prohibits operations over a person unless they are directly involved in the operation, or under safe cover (inside a stationary vehicle or protective structure). Beyond that, four operational categories apply:

• Category 1 (§ 107.110): the aircraft weighs 0.55 lb or less on takeoff and throughout the operation, including everything on board or attached, and has no exposed rotating parts that would lacerate skin. That is the whole list — no declaration of compliance, and no “safety defects” clause: that condition belongs to Categories 2 and 3, not this one.
• Category 2 (§ 107.120): must not cause injury equivalent to or greater than a transfer of 11 ft-lb of kinetic energy from a rigid object on impact. No exposed rotating parts that would lacerate skin, no safety defects, DoC and label required.
• Category 3 (§ 107.130 eligibility, § 107.125 operating rules): 25 ft-lb maximum impact energy, no exposed rotating parts, no safety defects, DoC and label required. Operations are allowed only: (a) within or over a closed- or restricted-access site where everyone inside is on notice that a sUAS may fly over them, or (b) without sustained flight over any human being — unless that person is directly participating, or is under a covered structure or inside a stationary vehicle that gives reasonable protection from a falling aircraft. Category 3 may never operate over an open-air assembly (§ 107.125(b)).
• Category 4 (§ 107.140): aircraft holding an airworthiness certificate issued under part 21, operated per the operating limitations in the approved Flight Manual.

Open-Air Assembly

There is no people-count that defines this, and memorising one will fail you. AC 107-2A paragraph 8.3.6.4 says it plainly: “the FAA does not define open-air assembly by regulation, it employs a case-by-case approach in determining how to apply the term.” What matters is the density of people not participating in the operation and the size of the operational area. The remote pilot must assess it before flying.

Likely to be an open-air assembly — the FAA's own examples: sporting events, concerts, parades, protests, political rallies, community festivals, and parks or beaches during certain events. Generally dense gatherings in the open, usually in public spaces.

Less likely — also the FAA's examples: individuals or families leaving a shopping centre, casual sports in an open area with no spectators, individuals or small groups relaxing in a park or on a beach, someone walking or cycling along a path.

• Sustained flight over an open-air assembly means hovering overhead, flying back and forth, or circling such that the aircraft remains over part of the assembly. Per AC 107-2A 8.3.2.1 it does not include a brief, one-time transit over part of the gathering that is merely incidental to a point-to-point operation unrelated to the assembly.
• Categories 1, 2 and 4: no sustained flight over an open-air assembly unless the operation meets § 89.110 (Standard Remote ID) or § 89.115(a) (broadcast module) — §§ 107.110(b), 107.115(b), 107.140(a)(2).
• Category 3: not permitted over an open-air assembly at all (§ 107.125(b)). Remote ID does not unlock it.

Moving Vehicles & Cargo

§ 107.25 is one sentence with three conditions in it:

• Operation from a moving aircraft is prohibited outright
• From a moving land or water-borne vehicle, only if the aircraft is flown over a sparsely populated area
• …and only if it is not transporting another person's property for compensation or hire

§ 107.205(a) and (c) reinforce the last one: the FAA will not waive § 107.25 or § 107.31 to permit carriage of another's property for hire.

Dropping objects is a separate, general rule. § 107.23(b) prohibits allowing an object to be dropped in a manner that creates an undue hazard to persons or property — on every flight, not only cargo work.

Carriage for hire — where these conditions actually come from. The familiar list — aircraft plus payload under 55 lb, the operation confined within a single state, no experimental airworthiness certificate — is not written in part 107. The words “intrastate” and “experimental” appear nowhere in it. They follow from elsewhere: the 55 lb figure is the § 107.3 definition of a small unmanned aircraft, including everything on board; the single-state limit comes from the economic authority an air carrier needs to carry property interstate, which part 107 does not grant (§ 107.1(b)(1) excludes air carrier operations); and the experimental restriction is a part 91 limitation on experimental certificates, not a part 107 one. Worth knowing as operating conditions — but do not go looking for them in the part 107 text.

Certificate of Waiver

If a planned operation can't fit within Part 107, the Remote PIC may apply for a Certificate of Waiver under 14 CFR § 107.200, proposing a safe alternative.

• FAA guidance, not a rule in § 107.200: submit at least 90 days before the planned operation where possible, and expect the FAA to take up to about 90 days to decide. The section itself sets no timescale — it only says the Administrator may issue a waiver on finding the operation can be conducted safely.
• Only the regulations listed in § 107.205 can be waived at all — and §§ 107.25 and 107.31 will never be waived to allow carriage of another's property for hire.
• Common waivers: night ops (now standard, no waiver needed since 2021), BVLOS, ops over people without meeting category requirements, ops above 400 ft AGL