Overview of Small UAS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

Summary of Major Provisions of Proposed Part 107 

The following provisions are being proposed in the FAA’s Small UAS NPRM. 

 Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (25 kg). Operational Limitations  Visual line-of-sight (VLOS) only; the unmanned aircraft must remain 

within VLOS of the operator or visual observer. 

 At all times the small unmanned aircraft must remain close enough to 

the operator for the operator to be capable of seeing the aircraft with 

vision unaided by any device other than corrective lenses. 

 Small unmanned aircraft may not operate over any persons not directly 

involved in the operation. 

 Daylight-only operations (official sunrise to official sunset, local time). 

 Must yield right-of-way to other aircraft, manned or unmanned. 

 May use visual observer (VO) but not required. 

 First-person view camera cannot satisfy “see-and-avoid” requirement 

but can be used as long as requirement is satisfied in other ways. 

 Maximum airspeed of 100 mph (87 knots). 

 Maximum altitude of 500 feet above ground level. 

 Minimum weather visibility of 3 miles from control station. 

 No operations are allowed in Class A (18,000 feet & above) airspace. 

 Operations in Class B, C, D and E airspace are allowed with the 

required ATC permission. 

 Operations in Class G airspace are allowed without ATC permission 

 No person may act as an operator or VO for more than one unmanned 

aircraft operation at one time. 

 No careless or reckless operations. 

 Requires preflight inspection by the operator. 

 A person may not operate a small unmanned aircraft if he or she knows 

or has reason to know of any physical or mental condition that would 

interfere with the safe operation of a small UAS. 

 Proposes a microUAS option that would allow operations in Class G 

airspace, over people not involved in the operation, provided the 

operator certifies he or she has the requisite aeronautical knowledge to 

perform the operation. 

 Pilots of a small UAS would be considered “operators”. Operator Certification and 

Responsibilities  Operators would be required to: 

o Pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved 

knowledge testing center. 

o Be vetted by the Transportation Security Administration. 
o Obtain an unmanned aircraft operator certificate with a small 

UAS rating (like existing pilot airman certificates, never 

expires). 

o Pass a recurrent aeronautical knowledge test every 24 months. 

o Be at least 17 years old. 

o Make available to the FAA, upon request, the small UAS for 

inspection or testing, and any associated documents/records 

required to be kept under the proposed rule. 

o Report an accident to the FAA within 10 days of any operation 

that results in injury or property damage. 

o Conduct a preflight inspection, to include specific aircraft and 

control station systems checks, to ensure the small UAS is safe 

for operation. 

 FAA airworthiness certification not required. However, operator mu Aircraft Requirements st 

maintain a small UAS in condition for safe operation and prior to flight 

must inspect the UAS to ensure that it is in a condition for safe 

operation. Aircraft Registration required (same requirements that apply 

to all other aircraft). 

 Aircraft markings required (same requirements that apply to all other 

aircraft). If aircraft is too small to display markings in standard size, 

then the aircraft simply needs to display markings in the largest 

practicable manner. 

Model Aircraft  Proposed rule would not apply to model aircraft that satisfy all of the 

criteria specified in Section 336 of Public Law 112-95. 

 The proposed rule would codify the FAA’s enforcement authority in 

part 101 by prohibiting model aircraft operators from endangering the 

safety of the NAS.