FAA Finalizes Rules for Hobbyist and Commercial Drone Flights
The FAA rules for unmanned aircraft systems have been updated with new rules for commercial flights. They’re also tweaking a few things for hobbyists, so if you have a drone you can check out the changes.
The new rules take effect in August 2016. The biggest changes will affect commercial drone flights. Under these new regulations, any company using a drone for commercial purposes must have an operator with a “remote pilot certificate,” which they can obtain after passing a basic knowledge test at an FAA-approved testing facility. There are also specific rules about how high and when drones can fly.
For most hobbyists, this won’t affect your daily flights. The new rules clarify the definition of “model aircraft” as opposed to drones (or unmanned aircraft systems), but each one still has the same registration requirements as before. You can view the complete list of rules directly from the FAA here .
New FAA Rules for Commercial Drones Require “Pilot License” | Ars Technica