FAA releases TRUST: Free online training required to fly drones recreationally

Since the title * can be mis-interpreted to mean that you’ve never needed a license, I can forgive some commenters here from forgetting that just a few years ago, the only legal way to fly a drone was with an actual aircraft pilot’s license. Drone operators, rightly, thought that was pretty silly, but it took a number of years before the FAA crafted drone-specific rules and allowed drone flights under 400 feet without a license.<p>Having to attend a short online training course about what the rules are and to stay away from people and out of the airspace of manned aircraft seems pretty reasonable, and perhaps necessary given the growing number of drone accidents in the recent past <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_UAV-related_incidents" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_UAV-related_incidents</a><p>* edit: the HN title has been changed for the better. To clarify for anyone reading this now, my comment was referring to the previous HN title: “Effective Immediately: You need a drone license before you fly in the US”

It’s a 30 minute class and probably a no brainer for most people. Sometimes you have to take these for a fishing licenses or to ride a Jet Ski without a license. Hunter education courses are usually mandatory. In Florida you have to take certification course if you plan to Shark fish.

This is inline with recent changes in Australia. Here, there is an in-person training&#x2F;accreditation process (costs a few thousand dollars) required for large drones and flying near controlled aerodromes, etc. Otherwise, you undertake a very simple online test that is just about impossible to get wrong. I dislike many impositions but it&#x27;s not taxing at all for anyone making money with their drone.<p>There&#x27;d be virtually no checks&#x2F;enforcement though. I have flown thousands of times and never been chased up over anything. I know 10+ commercial drone operators and only one of them has ever been queried about his flying, and that was by marine parks authorities because they thought he&#x27;d flown in a conservation area (he knew the area very well and was a couple of metres outside it...).

This applies to ALL drones, including ones under 250g that don&#x27;t need to be registered.

The course can be found here [1]. The FAA designated 16 organizations to make materials for it, and we can take it from any one of them.. I look forward to reviews comparing them and finding the best one.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.faa.gov&#x2F;uas&#x2F;recreational_fliers&#x2F;knowledge_test_updates&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.faa.gov&#x2F;uas&#x2F;recreational_fliers&#x2F;knowledge_test_u...</a>

I might as well as an off topic questions here:<p>1. I recently moved and now have a sizable chunk of land attached to a much larger sized chunk of city-owned land which includes a huge open field. Seems like the perfect place to fly a drone. Will it be fun doing this or is this a thing that I would get bored from shortly after dropping serious money on it?<p>2. Are drones that follow you any good? Would love to do a video of myself riding a motorcycle while a drone follows me.<p>3. Any recommendations for a good beginner drone that isn’t $1000?

This is great news. About a month ago a scofflaw drone pilot wiped out an entire generation of elegant terns: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.yahoo.com&#x2F;generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110013203.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.yahoo.com&#x2F;generation-seabirds-wiped-drone-o-110...</a><p>More training and harsher penalties need to be proportional to the amount of damage recreational flyers can do.

A few bad apples spoil the barrel, eh?<p>Twice now I&#x27;ve had drones flying over my house with the operators nowhere to be found. I wouldn&#x27;t mind so much if I could find the operator and ask them not to fly over my house but I can&#x27;t. That&#x27;s the fundamental problem with drone: the asymmetry.

I mimic the top comment here. I used to be an aerial photographer in the Northeast about 7ish years ago when drones were still relatively new. You still had to build you own back then, you couldn&#x27;t just BUY them.<p>The regulations were super confusing. I even had cop sending me an email in case I ever needed anything, but I&#x27;m pretty sure at the time I wasn&#x27;t really supposed to be flying because I didn&#x27;t have a license. Regardless, regulations were ridiculously confusing so it&#x27;s nice to see some clarity after all these years.

The test is easier than a full part-107 exam and I was able to finish mine in less than half an hour for free. The FAA did the right thing by making the test free to take. If there were any fees involved, it would hinder adoption and work against FAA’s goal. Some might see the test as another thing to do, but making it free really does have a lower barrier of entry, and is a necessary step in the right direction which could’ve easily gone wrong if a fee was involved.

OP here. The original title was not really wrong nor misleading, however I&#x27;m not opposed to it changing.<p>Prior to TRUST, you did NOT need a license to fly any drones for recreational purposes.<p>The FAA has had Part 107 in place for a while, which is a drone license, but only needed if you fly drones for commercial purposes.<p>Now we have both. Part 107 for commercial drone flying. TRUST for recreational drone flying. I&#x27;m not opposed to either, and given that the TRUST test is very easy, I don&#x27;t see any downside.

... and yet I can buy an AR-15 and ammunition with no such requirements.

Effective immediately: You need a license before you can throw an American football in the US because it might break a window.<p>How many decades were R&#x2F;C planes and helicopters operating without a problem? Instead of police work, it&#x27;s collective punishment with privacy invasion and barriers as the answer to salve MIC-generated paranoia. Firearms aren&#x27;t even tracked this absurdly.

RC car owners will also be required to have a state issued drivers license.

This is just to build a national database of drone users right?

This is worrying. The FAA was never created to regulate drones. Hobbyist pilots have been safely flying RC planes for decades. We need to return regulatory power to legislators, not unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. Another example is the FCC- an agency created to regulate radio is now attempting to regulate internet service providers!