Your Part 107 license doesn’t actually expire, but two years after you pass the initial Part 107 exam you will be unable to fly a drone commercially unless you pass the Part 107 renewal exam. Luckily, the Part 107 renewal exam is only 40 questions and does not test your knowledge on the areas of weather or loading and performance. You still must get a 70% on the exam to pass.
What is required for Renewal?
In order to renew your Part 107 license you will need to successfully pass the renewal exam with a 70%. In order to do this, you will need to create an IACRA account, find a knowledge testing center that is nearby, sign up and pay the testing fee.
If you already have your Part 107 license, you already have an IACRA account. The FAA changed the timing for creating an IACRA account in early 2020 and now requires everyone to sign up for an IACRA account before taking the Part 107 exam. Either way, in order to sign up for the renewal exam with the testing company, you will need to have an FAA Tracking Number (FTN). You can find this tracking number by logging in to your IACRA account. Your FTN will then be displayed on the screen in a box at the top left-hand corner of the screen titled “User Information.” The testing center will require this FTN when you are signing up for the renewal exam so make sure to jot it down.
How do I find a testing center?
Testing centers are all available all over the Unites States and chances are that you will probably find several within a few minutes of where you live or work. The test itself is administered by a company called PSI and their website lets you put in a zip code to show you the testing locations near you. Find a local PSI testing center here.
What can you expect for the Part 107 renewal?
The good news is that the FAA has excluded a couple of areas for the Part 107 renewal. The Part 107 renewal exam is also shorter, consisting of only 40 questions instead of the 60 questions on your initial test. When you call to schedule your renewal, be sure to tell them that you need to sign up for the Part 107 renewal, because it is technically a different test. You can either call PSI to schedule this exam or sign up for an account with PSI online and schedule your exam on their website.
Can You Take the Part 107 Knowledge Exam Online?
You cannot take your Part 107 renewal exam online. In fact, you can’t take the initial Part 107 exam online either.
There are two limited exceptions to this rule. If you are a licensed and current Part 61 pilot (a pilot of a manned aircraft), you can take your Part 107 renewal exam online, directly through the FAA. To be clear, you must have a pilot certificate issued under Part 61 and have completed a flight review within the previous 24 calendar months.
Secondly, the FAA is temporarily allowing Part 107 pilots to receive an extension of their Part 107 license if it expires between April 2020 and June 2020, in an effort to help drone pilots stay current during the shutdown of offices and public locations because of COVID-19. Check out our whole article on this extension here. This is not the same thing as taking your renewal exam, but just extends your license for 6 months.
Initial Test Breakdown
The breakdown of your initial knowledge test probably looked something like this.
If you still need to take your initial Part 107 exam, check out the Ultimate (FREE) Part 107 Study Guide. This study guide will take you through everything you need to know to pass the Part 107 exam on your first try.
Part 107 Renewal Test Breakdown
The recurrent test DOES NOT include the sections on weather or loading and performance. Hurray! You can leave behind METARs, TAFs and cumulonimbus clouds! Because let’s be honest, you’re going to check the weather on your phone before you schedule a flight anyway in most circumstances. Most of my clients want video and/or photography and neither of those is particularly great even in cloudy weather, much less rain. Anyway, the breakdown of the recurrent knowledge exam looks like this:
Again, if you’re looking to take your renewal exam, check out the Ultimate (FREE) Part 107 Study Guide. The beauty about this study guide is that it is broken up into sections and you can easily skip over the sections that you no longer need to study. Again, if you are taking the renewal Part 107 exam, you will not be tested on weather or loading and performance.
How Much Does the Part 107 Renewal Exam Cost?
The Part 107 renewal exam costs $150.00, just like the initial exam.
What do you have with you when you take the Part 107 renewal exam?
Like I said above, the recurrent exam is only 40 questions, and you still need to have a 70% or above to pass. Sitting for the exam is a lot like the first time around. At my testing location (shoutout to Flamingo Air), I was escorted into a room with several computer stations and given instructions on how to use the testing software and the timer was started (90 minutes). You are provided with a calculator, pencil, scrap paper and the FAA-CT-8080-2H supplement for questions that reference an appendix. Keep in mind that this supplement is also used for some of the manned pilot written tests, so there’s some stuff in it that you are not required to know as a drone pilot. Don’t download this supplement and freak out because you are completely unfamiliar with an altimeter or how to read one.
Instead, I’ve written The Ultimate Part 107 Exam Guide for you. Check it out and you should be good to go for the test. Keep in mind, since you’re just looking to renew, you can skip over the sections on weather as well as loading and performance. Unless you’re a glutton for punishment. For me, studying all of it is kind of fun because it reminds me when I was studying for my private/instrument exam.
What Happens if I Don’t Take my Renewal Exam Before Two Years is Up?
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, your Part 107 license technically does not expire. Its the same way with a manned pilot’s license. Instead of expiring, you are not considered current and you lose the privileges associated with your license. It’s kind of nice because there’s nothing extra that needs to be done if you don’t take your renewal exam prior to the end of the two-year period.
If I missed anything about the renewal that you still have questions about, let me know and I can update this post.