New FAA rules make it easier for recreational drone pilots to fly in restricted US airspaces

Photo: Nick Smith

Until recently, flying in controlled airspace at night was off limits to someone operating a drone recreationally. In the photo above, commercial drone pilot Nick Smith of Beeline Aerial, had to obtain permission to fly at night over downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The U.S. city sits in a Class B controlled airspace, a designation for airspace near the U.S.'s busiest airports.

Smith had already passed mandatory tests and met all FAA requirements to become compliant with Part 107, the rules which allow him to request permission to fly in restricted airspace during the day or night. Without being categorized as a commercial pilot, which allows him to request the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) approval, Smith would not have been able to legally capture this image of Cincinnati's skyline.

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) eased these restrictions on who is allowed to request a night flight LAANC when it announced that recreational drone pilots, also known as hobbyists, are now also able to request this permission for night time flight in controlled airspace. The policy went into effect February 20, 2023.

This is a huge step for recreational pilots who could previously only request LAANC approval during daylight hours. Up until now, only commercial drone pilots with Part 107 certification, who also completed the online Recurrent Exam, were eligible to fly at night in controlled airspace with LAANC approval.

LAANC was created in 2017 to give drone operators the ability to secure near real-time approval to fly in controlled airspace. Approval to fly in these areas can be secured in as little as a few seconds to minutes. As illustrated in the set of screenshots below, you can request LAANC as either a Commercial pilot flying under Part 107 or a Recreational pilot operating under Section 44809.

I used Air Control by Aloft on my smart phone to request LAANC access up to 400 feet in Class D airspace. I selected Recreational for the type of LAANC. The time period I selected falls under night time flight. Because it's past February 20th, I am eligible for approval. It is highly recommended you keep a copy of your TRUST certification on hand, should an authority ask.

Before LAANC, anyone looking to operate a drone in said airspace had to fill out a waiver 90 days in advance of the scheduled flight time. The process was time-consuming for both the pilots, who had to write out a lengthy and detailed description of the proposed mission, and the FAA staff members tasked with reading through each one to determine if a waiver met the criteria for approval.

Booming demand for flight requests

The latest data from the FAA's main site reveals that there are over 300,000 certified remote pilots and well over half a million recreational drones registered. LAANC is a solution that helps grant controlled airspace access quickly and easily to a growing number of drone pilots.

As drones have grown in popularity, a solution to scale increasing demand and integrate them safely and legally into controlled airspace became a priority for the FAA. LAANC was first introduced in 2017. As of February, 2022, over 1 million requests to operate in controlled airspace have been approved. LAANC is available at 732 airports and it alerts Air Traffic Control as to where drones are operating in their airspace at any given time.

Getting LAANC approval

LAANC approval can be acquired, free of charge, through an FAA-approved UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) service supplier. The FAA created B4UFly in partnership with Aloft. There are other options such as UASidekick or Google's OpenSky.

Using either a mobile or desktop app, pinpoint the exact area you plan to operate a drone in controlled airspace, designate the maximum altitude you want to fly your drone. Finally, select the date, time and length of your flight. You'll receive a confirmation text and email when your request is approved.

You'll see the numbers 0 to 400 on a controlled airspace grid. These numbers represent the maximum altitude recreational flyers can get approval to operate in that specific area of controlled airspace.

There are a few more steps a recreational flyer will need to complete before he or she can legally operate at night in controlled airspace with LAANC approval.

• Register your drone with FAA DroneZone
• Pass the The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST)
• Make sure you select to fly at or below the altitude defined by the UAS Facility Maps (this will automatically appear in any UAS app).
• Have an anti-collision strobe light affixed to your drone with visibility up to 3 statute miles (Pilot Institute has a thorough breakdown of the best ones their staff has tested)

When does night flight begin and end?

Night time officially occurs between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. Civil twilight is a 30-minute period that occurs either after the sun sets or before it rises. During these respective 30 minute periods, your drone must be equipped with an anti-collision light.

One final thing to remember is that not all airports offer LAANC. Drone pilots, both commercial and recreational, can log in to the FAA's DroneZone, find their respective portals, and start the process for securing authorization when it's not readily available on a UAS app. Happy (and safe) flying.

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