Nestled tightly among a cluster of East Coast states, Pennsylvania remains a favorite state for drone pilots. But before you get started, make sure you have a drone license. Otherwise, you can’t fly.
What’s required of you to get a drone license in Pennsylvania?
Here’s how to get a drone license in Pennsylvania:
- Learn the FAA’ s eligibility rules
- Obtain your FAA Tracking Number
- Sign up at a Pennsylvania FAA Knowledge Testing Center
- Study
- Take the Part 107 exam successfully
- Send in Form 8710-13 for your certificate
As a New Jerseyan who’s always venturing over to Pennsylvania, I know a lot about what it takes to fly a drone here.
Let me show you how to get your Remote Pilot Certificate so you can join the finest pilots in the sky.
To help, we’ve identified and reviewed the best drone courses for beginners and professionals.
Here’s how to obtain a drone license in Pennsylvania
With more drone pilots entering the skies than ever, it’s hard not to want to join them. The energy is infectious in the best way possible.
If you’re learning about drones and what’s required to operate them, you can’t get far without a license.
While you can choose from two types of licenses, hobbyist and commercial, the latter provides more mileage.
For example, you can use a commercial license, known as the Remote Pilot Certificate, to fly your drone for financial gain. Woohoo.
Like the Spider-Man saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.
The FAA expects you to know its drone laws inside out and sideways, and you must display your knowledge by passing a test called the Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG) exam or Part 107 test.
Let me guide you through how it’s all done.
Become an FAA-certified drone pilot to fly for commercial use. Pass your FAA drone exam on your first try or your money back.
Learn the FAA’s eligibility rules
Before you proceed any further, make sure you know the FAA’s rules for who’s eligible to take the Part 107 exam.
You should only take the test if you fully comprehend English; since it’s not offered in another language, any language barrier could impede you from passing.
You also need to be healthy enough to use a drone, both physically and mentally. Finally, you must be 16 and up.
All courses offered by Pilot Institute are taught by remote pilots, flight instructors, FAA commercial pilots, and other certified professionals.
Obtain your FAA Tracking Number
With that first simple step out of the way, the next task to tackle is officially entering the FAA’s system as a new, trackable registrant.
To put it more simply, you need an FAA Tracking Number.
The concept of the FTN is rather self-explanatory, but I’ll provide some background info anyway. The FAA needs to know who’s doing what in the sky as part of its job to regulate airspace. FTNs help.
Of course, you’re not flying quite yet, so you’re not doing anything in the sky. You might wonder then, why do you need an FTN? It’s mostly for identification purposes this early on.
Keeping that in mind, are you ready to get your FTN? Great. You need to use the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application website, or IACRA.
IACRA is associated with the FAA and is free to use. Click here to get started.
On the IACRA homepage, navigate toward the upper right near the login boxes. You’re looking for a Register link; click it. IACRA requires you to choose at least one role and agree to its terms of service when registering.
So, which role should you check? Well, that depends on which you qualify for. If you’re a brand-new drone pilot, you should only check Applicant. You can select multiple roles if it suits you.
Fill in the Personal Information, Security Questions, and User Name/Password sections. Notice how I didn’t say anything about the Certificate Information section?
That’s because you don’t have a drone license yet, so you can’t possibly add anything here.
The reason this section is here is because some roles you can select on the first page require you to add that information before you can complete your registration. That doesn’t apply to Applicants.
Click the Register button when you’re ready. The next steps are IACRA sending you a confirmation email, which you should click to log into your new account. You will have an FTN waiting for you as a new IACRA user.
To help you apply the knowledge you’ve gathered, you can take a practice test that has more than 200 questions. DLA culled those questions from real FAA exams.
Sign up at a Pennsylvania FAA Knowledge Testing Center
With that taken care of, you can now schedule an appointment to take the Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG) exam, which is exciting stuff!
The FAA only allows you to take the commercial exam in person at one of its approved Knowledge Testing Centers.
You can find a Knowledge Testing Center near Philly, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Hershey, or Lancaster through PSI, a testing resource.
You need a PSI account to proceed, so let’s take care of that for you. Click here for the PSI site link, then scroll to the Create an Account button at the bottom of the page.
As soon as you click that, you’ll realize you need your FTN to verify your identity.
Then you can proceed with your registration. PSI requires you to type in your email address, full name, and a unique username and password. Repeat the password for security purposes, then click the Continue button.
PSI will send you an email verifying your account creation; you’ll have to click a link within the email to confirm your account. Then you can log in and use the entirety of the PSI site.
Choose Find a Test Center from the top navigation menu to begin searching Knowledge Testing Centers.
You have to type in your Pennsylvania zip code, select United States for the country, and choose Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG) under the Exam menu.
You can see Knowledge Testing Centers as close as five miles to 300 kilometers out. PSI will provide contact information and directions to the nearest one so you can schedule your appointment.
The Online Part 107 Prep Course includes more than 120 lesson objectives. Practice exams with questions from real FAA tests are also invaluable.
Study
Between now and your test date is yours to do what you want with, and I hope it includes lots of studying. After all, it’s not like you take the Part 107 exam for free. You have to pay $165 per attempt.
It’s expensive, especially if you have to take it more than once. You can easily shell out hundreds of dollars if you aren’t careful.
While you’ll find countless free study resources out there, are they really of the caliber you need to pass the Part 107 exam the first time? Do you really want to find out the hard way?
Probably not! Allow me then to redirect your attention to Droneblog’s list of the best drone courses for beginners.
This lovingly curated list includes the top resources in drones, with talented, affable, knowledgeable instructors sharing everything they know about FAA drone laws.
And most of these people know all there is, as they’re FAA pilots or former pilots.
You’re in good hands, and with practice tests to help you exercise what you’ve learned, you’ll feel adequately prepared for the upcoming test.
You should pass with flying colors, but if you don’t, you can usually get a full refund and the $165 toward your next Part 107 test attempt.
Peltier was a part of the U.S. Air Force as an F-15E flight instructor for a decade making him qualified to teach drones courses.
Take the Part 107 exam successfully
Armed with the knowledge you have, you should walk into your local FAA Knowledge Testing Center on exam day feeling confident.
The exam you’ll take consists of 60 questions in multiple-choice format.
You will have two and a half hours to answer every question, and you can choose from three answers per question. You can answer 18 questions wrong and pass, so you get a little bit of leeway.
You will need to bring a photo ID card that’s government-issue, like a driver’s license. That’s about all you must have, as you’ll get a dry-erase marker, a pencil, and a test booklet when you arrive.
You can bring your phone if you must, but you can’t have it on you in the testing room.
Let me tell you something else important about taking this exam. Don’t expect instant results.
You won’t know your score tomorrow, and likely not a few days after that. It’s sometimes taken pilots weeks to hear back.
When you take the test, you’re protected under the Drone Pro Academy’s pass guarantee. Easily pass your FAA Part 107 exam.
Send in Form 8710-13 for your certificate
Did you pass? Awesome job! You studied hard, and it shows. Now you have a Remote Pilot Certificate to use in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States.
Well, you will have it. You need to contact IACRA and the FAA for your certificate. Log into IACRA and begin FAA Form 8710-13.
The form has prompts to follow, so it should only take you several minutes to complete.
After you send in the form, it’s more waiting. Not for nearly as long as before, as IACRA will review your license request promptly.
However, you have to pass a TSA background check before IACRA will email you a license.
The temporary version of the commercial drone license you receive from IACRA is only intended to be used until the mail-issue permanent license arrives from FAA.
I have my drone license in Pennsylvania – Now what?
Nice work getting your Part 107 license. Now you can explore Pennsylvania with commercial aspirations, launching a rewarding drone career or side hustle.
Just make sure you register your drone before you plan your first project. The FAA’s federal rules dictate that all commercial drones are registered no matter their weight or size.
Once you register your drone, it’s good for three years.
Pennsylvania doesn’t require you to have drone insurance, but I would strongly advise you to consider it. If you crash your drone, which is likely as a new pilot, then what?
You would have to pay medical fees or property restoration costs completely out-of-pocket.
That can mean thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in expenses. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of money lying around. Most of us don’t.
Insurance doesn’t make it all go away, but it helps make these kinds of accidents more affordable.
Now is also an awesome time to become privy to Pennsylvania’s drone laws. Statewide, you can’t fly in most state parks under the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources regulation.
The available parks for drone use are Prompton State Park, Beltzville State Park, Tuscarora State Park, Hillman State Park, Lackawanna State Park, and Benjamin Rush State Park.
Title 18 Sect. 3505 makes it illegal to use your drone for surveillance purposes and to transmit or deliver contraband. You also can’t make others feel unsafe through your drone flying.
What is your gameplan for when your commercial license expires? That’s right, it expires within two years of receiving it.
When your license is nearly out of commission, you can always recertify by taking the FAA’s free, online exam.
It’s easier and more efficient than ever to keep your Remote Pilot Certificate current!