Lesson 6 Introduction

Welcome to Lesson 6! In this module, you will become familiar with the current FAA regulations that govern UAS operations and the ongoing efforts to integrate their operations into the National Airspace System (NAS). On top of it are the latest rules known as PART 107. You will also explore the current recreational versus public or commercial operations of UAS, be familiar with the Certificate of Authorization (COA), Certificate of Waiver, and Airworthiness certificate and how to apply for one, and examine issues related to privacy that are of concern to both the government and industry. You will be asked to choose your application materials and organize them for your COA or Part 107 waiver application. The COA/Part 107 waiver project includes a few graded components that will be submitted in the different sections of the lesson. During this lesson, you will be engaged in discussions with fellow students on several topics related to the lesson objectives. Participation in these discussions is mandatory wherever it is requested.

Lesson Objectives

At the successful completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

• recognize the differences between standards and regulations;
• describe the rules and regulations associated with operating a UAS in the United States of America;
• interpret the FAA restrictions on operating a UAS for commercial use; and
• prepare an application for Certificate of Authorization (COA) or PART107 Certificate of Waiver.

Lesson Readings

• Sections 3.1 and 3.2 of Watts, et al., "Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Remote Sensing and Scientific Research: Classification and Considerations of Use"
• Read the FAA "Literature Review on Detect, Sense, and Avoid Technology for Unmanned Aircraft Systems
• Chapter 5 of textbook 1: Barnhart, et al., Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 2nd edition

Review the following:

• Review the FAA  "Integration of Civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS): Roadmap."
• Review the FAA "Model Aircraft Operating Standards."
• Review the FAA "Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)."
• Review PART 107 “Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems.” 
• Review the article "What You Need to Know to Legally Operate Your Drone Under New FAA Regulation."
• Review the FAA "National Policy on the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operational Approval."
• Review sample of  PART107 Certificate of Waiver.
• Review several COAs issued by the FAA. 
• Review the information provided in this COA information template document before completing your COA application.
• Review the samples of issued COAs that is provided to you under the "Example_COAs_from_FAA" in the Modules section.

Lesson Activities

• Participate in the "Differences between Rules and Regulations discussion forum."
• Start working on the "COA application draft."
• Submit your results for exercise 1 data processing in Pix4D.
• Continue processing the dataset for exercise 2 using Pix4D software.
• Complete the Lesson 6 Quiz.