How to fly a drone at night, legally

Before 2021, any night drone operation required a specific FAA waiver. The updated Part 107 rule folded night flying into the routine rules. A certificated pilot who has completed an initial knowledge test or applicable training under 14 CFR 107.65 after April 6, 2021, and equips the aircraft with compliant anti-collision lighting may fly at night without a waiver.

Under 14 CFR 107.29, the civil-twilight periods outside Alaska run from 30 minutes before official sunrise to sunrise, and from official sunset to 30 minutes after sunset. Compliant anti-collision lighting is required in civil twilight as well as at night.

1. 1

   Hold a current Part 107 certificate

   The routine night allowance is a Part 107 privilege. If you do not have the certificate, see our certification guide . This is one of the concrete reasons the credential is worth it.

2. 2

   Meet the knowledge-recency requirement

   A first-time pilot who passed the current initial UAG knowledge test after April 6, 2021 has met the night-knowledge part of the rule. Existing certificate holders use the applicable free FAA recurrent training and must keep their aeronautical knowledge current under 14 CFR 107.65.

3. 3

   Equip anti-collision lighting

   Fit lights visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate fast enough to avoid a collision. The factory navigation LEDs on most consumer drones are not bright enough; you need a dedicated strobe.

4. 4

   Confirm visibility and keep line of sight

   You still need at least 3 statute miles of visibility from your control station, and you must keep the drone within visual line of sight, which, at night, means relying on those strobes to track it.

The requirement is precise: anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. A small clip-on aviation strobe meets this; the dim green/red position lights built into a hobby drone generally do not.

Night questions usually combine the legal requirement with human vision. Keep those ideas separate before choosing an answer.

Recreational flyers operate under a different framework. The FAA says a recreational night flight must follow the night procedures and lighting requirements in a recognized community-based organization's safety guidelines. The Part 107 lighting and training rule does not replace that recreational framework.

Being legal is half the job; getting footage worth the cold fingers is the other half. Exposure, noise, and focus all behave differently after dark, and our sister site Aperture Authority's night photography guide covers the camera-settings side, and the same logic applies from the air.