Is your drone flight recreational or commercial? Here’s how to tell

Flying a drone can be both exciting and lucrative, and there are two general ways that the public can lawfully fly a drone in the United States per the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) – recreationally under the rules of Section 44809, or commercially under the rules of Part 107.

While most people fly for fun under the rules of Section 44809, there are fine lines that can be unknowingly crossed that may put you within the purview of flying commercially. This can subject you to the rules of Part 107, and it’s one of the reasons why we recommend getting your Part 107 remote pilot certificate, especially if you have the means to do so.

In this piece, we’ll discuss some of the drone flight types that getting your Part 107 remote pilot certificate entitles you to. Specifically, these are types of drone flights that would be considered ‘for hire’ by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and therefore wouldn’t be permissible under the rules of Section 44809.

After that, we’ll share some flight types that wouldn’t necessarily require a Part 107 certificate, but rather would apply to Section 44809 as a ‘recreational’ flight.

Note that no part of this piece should be construed as legal advice. If you aren’t sure if your activities will fit under the Section 44809 recreational carveout or require a Part 107 remote pilot certificate, then you may reach out to the FAA for approval beforehand or consult with a competent attorney.

Get your Part 107 to perform these drone flight types

Realty

Perhaps you want to make a client’s home or business stand out from the rest when you list it for sale online. Whether you’re a realtor, or you’re working closely with one, drone pilots often play a major role in the representation of the property as it goes up for sale.

Flying a drone high up above a property offers a unique vantage point that can give your property listing the captivation it needs. The drone will be able to capture not only stunning aerial view, but also surrounding land, rooftop condition, and structure size, all in one fell swoop.

Well-controlled drone video footage at almost any height also presents a property or structure in a more welcoming way than still photographs captured at ground level. This allows the drone operator to capture B-roll that covers more angles and perspectives than would be possible with still photographs.

Since you would be flying to further a business interest in this example, you would need your Part 107 remote pilot certificate to perform this job.

Structural inspections

Performing regular inspections is an important aspect of maintenance for most things, and in many cases, it can also apply to safety. That’s why drone pilots are often called upon to perform inspections of hard-to-reach areas, such as bridges, cellular towers, power lines, and skyscrapers.

Flying drones isn’t as risky as putting a person at these heights, which is one of the reasons why drones are becoming more popular in this space. Drones are often equipped with very high-quality cameras that can capture enough detail to point out flaws in a structure that may pose safety or performance issues. The pilot can then enter these images into an AI-based software that detects flaws and generates a safety report.

On top of that, it’s often cheaper to use drones as opposed to renting equipment necessary to put people on these structures for manual inspections.

While flying close to certain structures poses risks in and of itself, an experience commercial pilot should be able to navigate these with ease, which is why the FAA allows these types of flights only for Part 107 remote pilots.

Since this is considered flying for hire, it would satisfy the requirement of commercial flights. This is another type of operation where a Part 107 remote pilot certificate would be required.

Organizational photos

Sometimes large organizations will want a group photograph of their employees or personnel that will be used to celebrate those who put in honest work to accomplish a given goal. While a photographer can handle group photographs up to a certain size, there’s only so much that you can capture at ground level.

Larger organizations may opt to hire a drone pilot because taking an image from the skies eliminates the problem of heads going missing behind other heads and being unable to fit everyone into the frame. For this reason, I see a lot of rmote pilots being summoned to capture group photos for larger organizations.

A drone offers a quick and unique way to ensure everybody gets commemorated in a company photograph, especially when the organization may want a certain structure (such as the place of operations) in the backdrop.

Even if you offer to do this for free for a non-profit entity, you would still be considered to be flying for hire in this instance. So, you’d best get your Part 107 remote pilot certificate for this job as not to land in any hot water.

Search and rescue

When someone or something goes missing, most notably people or pets, a drone can cover a lot more land from high in the skies than a person could on their feet.

Many drones are equipped not only with regular cameras, but also thermal ones. If it’s late at night and you can’t find a missing dog with the unaided eye, then a thermal camera may help you find that dog’s heat signature much faster than would be possible without it.

Search and rescue missions, especially in adverse conditions, can spell out the difference of life and death, so it’s a given that people would want to deploy the most capable equipment possible. That said, it’s not uncommon for high-profile missing persons or animals cases to deploy drone pilots for assistance.

This is another example of flying for hire instead of flying for fun, so search and rescue missions partaken by civilians should only be attempted by Part 107 remote pilots who are authorized to fly on someone else’s behalf whether they’re being compensated or not.

Government authorities, on the other hand, may operate under Part 91 with a Certificate of Authorization (COA) to scout an area or analyze a dangerous environment. This differs from a civilian remote pilot in scope and regulations, offering more leeway for government authorities to perform their official duties.

YouTube content

A lot of drone pilots like to post what they capture on social media, and a popular place to share that footage is the YouTube video sharing platform.

A potential issue here, on the other hand, is that YouTube allows you to monetize your videos for others’ enjoyment. This could be construed as a type of ‘for hire’ work by the FAA, and so you could be in hot water if you only flew under Section 44809 and regularly received compensation with your drone footage by posting it on YouTube with the intent of monetization.

The key here is the fine line between flying just for fun and flying for compensation. When you fly for compensation, that is often considered a commercial flight, with very few exceptions that almost never apply to anyone.

If you think you will be regularly posting drone footage to YouTube, especially when monetizing that content, then it would be a good idea to get the Part 107 remote pilot certificate beforehand.

Special Events

The FAA typically frowns upon flying drones over major crowded sporting events, so we want to get that out there before starting this section. But perhaps you’re interested in capturing a parade or other fun event that won’t offer another opportunity to record. Perhaps you might even be able to share or sell your footage?

In this instance, you would need your Part 107 remote pilot certificate. That’s because you’re not flying for sheer enjoyment, but rather with the intent of capturing footage for an event that will likely be disseminated to other parties, and this satisfies the ‘for hire’ part.

The unique thing about using a drone for special events is that it offers unique vantage points. But the FAA doesn’t want drone pilots flying amid certain sensitive issues, including wildfires, open assemblies, and places that could impact national security (such as when the President is in town).

With these facts in mind, you would need a Part 107 remote pilot certificate to fly a drone and capture footage during major special events, especially if the intent of the flight is to record and share assets, but the Part 107 remote pilot should also be mindful of the circumstances of the flight to determine if it would be safe to do so.

Competitive racing

Believe it or not, there’s an entire subset of drone pilots who dedicate their time and attention to high-performance drones. They’ll use these drones in competitive races, pitting their technical and mechanical know-how against that of other drone pilots.

While this may seem like a type of recreational flight at first glance given the fun nature of it, the fact that this involves a competitive factor somewhat changes things. This is especially true given how the winner of the race may receive a reward and that the flight is generally for other peoples’ entertainment.

By getting a Part 107 remote pilot certificate, you should be free and clear to perform in competitive races, so long as you obey the rules of the commercial flight to include not exceeding a certain air speed set by the FAA. In the United States, drones may not exceed 100 miles per hour during flight.

Hauling payloads

There are some extremely limited scenarios where your small drone might be used to haul a payload from point A to point B. This is usually done in a controlled scenario outside of the bounds of fun, and typically within the scope of a highly intentional purpose, so I like to lump this in with commercial Part 107 flights and not recreational (and I’m sure the FAA would as well).

While some retail-oriented businesses like Amazon and Walmart are using drones for product delivery in very select markets, this form of hauling payloads is actually performed under Part 135 rules, which outline regulations for commuter, air taxi, and charter services. Carrying smaller objects with your personal drone for personal use likely doesn’t fall under this category if you’re operating within the scope of your own project, but if you begin to deliver items to other individuals, this may change your area of regulation.

Remember that Part 107 remote pilots are expected to keep visual line of sight with their drone at all times, and this can’t be broken without a waiver from the FAA. Remote pilots operating under Part 135 have a lot more leeway to operate outside of visual line of sight, so this is a significant difference in drone operation and intentions.

Enjoy flight types under Section 44809

Hobby flights

If you’re just going to the park to fly your drone for practice, then this could be considered a hobby flight instead of flying for hire and would therefore be legal tender under the Section 44809 carveout for recreational flights.

With hobby flights, you aren’t flying for anyone else. These flights are for your own enjoyment and will not make you any money or satisfy anyone else’s request besides your own hunger for drone flying.

Since hobby flights are non-commercial, you would not need a Part 107 remote pilot certificate for them. But you must have completed the TRUST test and follow the rules of Section 44809 to partake lawfully.

Test flights

If you’re adding a new component to your drone, such as new propellers, an upgraded camera, a beacon light, or something else, then the FAA strongly encourages a low-level test flight to ensure safe handling before taking to the skies. Low-level, meaning close to the ground to ensure that the drone doesn’t bank and pose undue risk.

Test flights in which the drone operator is merely ensuring the safety of their equipment are not considered flying for hire, and therefore you are free to do this within the confines of Section 44809. What you may not want to do, however, is test-fly someone else’s drone for them, as this could constitute ‘for hire’ behavior.

Family photos

If you’re taking a family photograph for your own enjoyment, or perhaps recording your child’s performance at a local sporting event, then this could be considered a recreational flight since you aren’t flying for hire and the photographs or footage would be for personal use only.

This is a tricky one! The images and videos must be for personal use only. If you capture this footage and share it with your child’s school, church, or any other organization that may have arranged the meet (this is often the case with school sports teams), then that changes everything because sharing the footage with another entity could be construed as ‘flying for hire’ and would therefore warrant a Part 107 remote pilot certificate.

This is a very narrow example. Take great care not to expand on this example or to try and create analogues to justify skirting the Part 107 requirement. You are ultimate responsible for every flight you take and should consider the circumstances carefully.

Capturing your family in photos and videos for memories that won’t be distributed outside of your own household would not be considered a ‘for hire’ flight, but distributing those assets to other entities could be. It’s important to recognize the ‘for hire’ element of these types of flights to understand how (if at all) you need to be licensed.

Wrapping up

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/03/19/recreational-or-commercial-drone-flight-differences/