Cost to get a license to operate Drone

Marcus, post: 392159, member: 11568 wrote: Hey I am a young surveyor and am very interesting getting a remote pilot certificate.

• Welcome, Keep on keeping on. young surveyors are a rare breed for sure.

I would like to jump on board with this technology early as I think only a handful of companies will use drones and these companies will only have one person in the company who operates them.

• I do believe a handful of SURVEYING companies will use drones (we are one of the few that have invested in UAV's) but I also believe that with the FAA part 107 setup, drone work and data will probably end up being collected by lowball individuals or small firms that also want to be on the bleeding edge of the technology. Many will start offering aerial imagery and or video and some may take the next step to mapping.

I am wondering what is cost to get certified and if it's worth getting a remote pilots license even if my company doesn't have a drone yet?

• I have read it is 150 for the exam but you need to consider that outside the hardware costs, the software costs are quite a significant investment. In addition to all this you will need labor costs to perform the post flight processing and preflight control if you are looking at any sort of mapping project from the UAV. Not trying to be a downer but just do your research to know all the cost/benefits. Cheers

$155.00.

Marcus, post: 392159, member: 11568 wrote: I am wondering what is cost to get certified and if it's worth getting a remote pilots license even if my company doesn't have a drone yet?

Absolutely!!! Never stop improving your cranial abilities, especially when it comes to Drones. The more expertise you possess in this expanding technology will certainly benefit you in the future.

Do it! 🙂

You can find all you need to know by searching the web for FAA drone rules. It costs $150 to take the exam and all of the reference material is available from the FAA. You need to renew every 2 years.

Warning, thread hijack. Has anyone taken the new remote pilot cert. exam? I'm wondering how hard the test is as I'm taking it next week. I haven't studied as much as I would like so I'm thinking of postponing the test another few weeks.

Gregg

GMPLS, post: 392165, member: 8404 wrote: You can find all you need to know by searching the web for FAA drone rules. It costs $150 to take the exam and all of the reference material is available from the FAA. You need to renew every 2 years.

Warning, thread hijack. Has anyone taken the new remote pilot cert. exam? I'm wondering how hard the test is as I'm taking it next week. I haven't studied as much as I would like so I'm thinking of postponing the test another few weeks.

Gregg

I'm taking it next week too. I had pay $150 + another $5 fee. I watched the webinar on the FAA website and hope that'll get me by. They make you wait two weeks to retake it if you fail. You have to pay the fee again too.

exbert, post: 392168, member: 6143 wrote: I'm taking it next week too. I had pay $150 + another $5 fee. I watched the webinar on the FAA website and hope that'll get me by. They make you wait two weeks to retake it if you fail. You have to pay the fee again too.

Where are you taking the exam, Exbert?

exbert, post: 392168, member: 6143 wrote: I'm taking it next week too. I had pay $150 + another $5 fee. I watched the webinar on the FAA website and hope that'll get me by. They make you wait two weeks to retake it if you fail. You have to pay the fee again too.

Hmm, I didn't see the webinar. Maybe it's new. Thanks for that. I'll have to watch it.

Gregg

There are a couple companies that will assist you in getting running, start from field to end product for under $10k. This includes their software of preference, drone, camera, etc.

I'm taking it next week as well. I took the FAA online exam. Pretty easy/common sense questions.
I'm taking the exam in Bedford, MA (Hanscom). I use Drone Deploy for mapping and Pix4D for stitching. As of now I only use the 3d modelling for visual, but use the stitched composite image in cad as a visual background when drafting. For some some contracts that's all they need. To do that the software is free.

Like the others have said, the test is $155. I strongly recommend some sort of prep class. I took www.uavgroundschool.com to prepare for mine and it ran $250 for the course.

GMPLS, post: 392165, member: 8404 wrote: You can find all you need to know by searching the web for FAA drone rules. It costs $150 to take the exam and all of the reference material is available from the FAA. You need to renew every 2 years.

Warning, thread hijack. Has anyone taken the new remote pilot cert. exam? I'm wondering how hard the test is as I'm taking it next week. I haven't studied as much as I would like so I'm thinking of postponing the test another few weeks.

Gregg

I took it Wednesday signed in at about 9 checked out around 10 made an 82.
I took online Ground school from Gold Seal it was worth the price.
One word of advice, take a magnifying glass, they will ask you to read info off a sectional published in their reference book, I had trouble reading some things.

Are you able to reference any materials, regulations, for example, or is it closed book?

Marcus, post: 392159, member: 11568 wrote: Hey I am a young surveyor and am very interesting getting a remote pilot certificate. I would like to jump on board with this technology early as I think only a handful of companies will use drones and these companies will only have one person in the company who operates them. I am wondering what is cost to get certified and if it's worth getting a remote pilots license even if my company doesn't have a drone yet?

Sent from my XT1093 using Tapatalk

Do it - get your drone license - stay up to date on technology - Buy software and hardware instead of a new car/truck.

This technology is maturing quickly. My county has several landfill settlement surveys that were put out to RFP. Two lowest prices were drone surveys.
I wasn't directly involved, but I'm sure there are QA/QC requirements. It is going to impact surveying in the same way that GPS has (the good and the bad).
There are also a lot of agriculture related uses for drone mapping.

Mark O, post: 392188, member: 11591 wrote: I'm taking it next week as well. I took the FAA online exam. Pretty easy/common sense questions.
I'm taking the exam in Bedford, MA (Hanscom). I use Drone Deploy for mapping and Pix4D for stitching. As of now I only use the 3d modelling for visual, but use the stitched composite image in cad as a visual background when drafting. For some some contracts that's all they need. To do that the software is free.

Hi Mark, is there 2 exams? Is the online exam a practice exam?

I am only aware of one exam. The FAA online practice exam consists of two parts. Here is an example of the questions:
https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/test_questions/media/uag_sample_exam.pdf

The FAA exam questions appear to be very similar to the UK exam questions. Most of it isn't very difficult - just a case of paying attention during the theory course lectures and questioning anything you don't fully understand.

Mark O, post: 392237, member: 11591 wrote: Are you able to reference any materials, regulations, for example, or is it closed book?

It's closed book.
They provide a book/booklet with charts and exhibits you will be asked to refer to to answer certain questions, in the front is a copy of the legend for the sectional charts know this!
When you finish they will give you a Computer Test Report if you pass they will sign and seal it and send the results electronically to FAA.
Go to: https://iacra.faa.gov/IACRA and set up an account and fill out application, it took 48 hours for my results to make it into the FAA data Base, once you complete it is says it will take up to 7 days for you certificate to be processed.

Mark O, post: 392264, member: 11591 wrote: I am only aware of one exam. The FAA online practice exam consists of two parts. Here is an example of the questions:
https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/test_questions/media/uag_sample_exam.pdf

There is one for people who hold a current pilots certificate (no weather sectionals or radio procedures), and one for people who are just seeking sUAS certificate.

David C. Newell RPLS LS CFM, post: 392236, member: 6347 wrote: I took it Wednesday signed in at about 9 checked out around 10 made an 82.
I took online Ground school from Gold Seal it was worth the price.
One word of advice, take a magnifying glass, they will ask you to read info off a sectional published in their reference book, I had trouble reading some things.

What was covered in the Online Ground School that wasn't in the FAA materials? (Not asking for a complete list/class here, just examples.)