I'm thinking of trying to get my drone pilots license , and was wondering if anybody here has done that using an online course? If, so do you have any recommendations as to a good one? Also, I can't seem to find any real information on it, but has the testing changed since Covid? Can the test be taken at home or do you still need to geo somewhere for testing? Thanks for any help.

I am a long-time (more than fifty years) flight instructor, airplanes (single and multi-engine) and instrument rating, but not drones.

I can't tell you exactly how long (memory?), but for many years I have been using and recommending the Gleim instructional and test prep material for everything that I teach.

Gleim appears to have quite a bit of material for drone pilot instruction.

https://www.gleimaviation.com/drones/

You can go on the FAA website for starts which will spell out the requirements. If you don't have any aviation background or ratings, you have multiple ways of studying for the test, which you will have to go take a written at a designated testing site.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/commer...ecome_a_drone_pilot/

If you already have your private pilot certificate, a remote pilot cert is just a 2 hour add on. I'd recommend getting your private first...........way more fun!!

The test is not all that bad, but I was glad I enrolled in an online course before taking the exam.

Greg at Pilot Institute does a great job - https://pilotinstitute.com/ - Everything they have for training is pretty much completely up-to-date, including the new regulations that were just announced.

He's also got a lot of experience as a private pilot flight instructor and running a school.

I'm certain that there are many other good options, but I can strongly recommend Greg's operation and the community he has built.

The exam is NOT online. (Recurrent training will be online.) You go to the same place all the pilots go for the exam. Nothing has changed other than it may be a bit more difficult to get an appointment for the exam, and the have cleaning procedures in place. I took my exam more than a year ago, so no COVID.

Thanks for the replies. I will look into the suggested online schools.I wasn't sure but thought I had read that since Covid, the test was available online, but I guess not.

I had mine, let it expire.

FAA testing is in person only. They are like your worst nightmare highschool teacher on finals day. Assume everyone will cheat, you are not allowed to bring any thing into the test room they give you the pencil and warn you sternly about making any marks in their book.

No way they would have enough control to satisfy their concerns over cheating in an online environment.

Easy enough to prep online, most of the drone related stuff is simple and common sense. I spent a few months prepping and taking sample exams, plenty of free web resources. I didn’t spend a nickel to prep. Test itself was $160 and has to be retaken (and paid for again) every two years.

For me what was tricky were the nav chart questions and deciphering weather data.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, the only affect Covid has had on Part 107 is the testing centers (in my area) are spacing out testing appointments.
I did my recurrent in October, and had to schedule it about a month out. Only two of us were testing in a room designed for 6-8 students.

The good news is that recurrent testing from here on out will be online only, so only your initial exam will be in-person.

My job is 100% dependent upon me having a Part 107 certificate. If I can do it, so can you.
Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
Test itself was $160 and has to be retaken (and paid for again) every two years.

No longer. Starting March 1 (I think) recurrent training will be able to be completed online.

I wish I had done an online course first... I spent two days cramming for the test and then 2 minutes into it I would have bet good money I was going to fail...

some of it is pretty simple.. and the FAA tutorial on line is good... but what threw me was being able to read aerial nautical charts... those are tuff.

quote:

Originally posted by steve495:

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
Test itself was $160 and has to be retaken (and paid for again) every two years.

No longer. Starting March 1 (I think) recurrent training will be able to be completed online.

So if I am expired will I be able to recert online?

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
So if I am expired will I be able to recert online?

To stay current, you [generally] need to pass either the initial or recurrent exam within the past 24 months.

But we are in the time of COVID, and the FAA did grant some relief to those who were required to retest between March 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020. For those, they had an additional two months to test, providing a total of three months.

For those requiring retest between Oct. 1 and the end of this month, one additional month was added, for a total of two grace months.

So unless you've just recently expired, you'll need to take the full test again at an FAA testing center. Note the exam is actually changing on March 1 to reflect the new regulations just implemented.