Changelog
What's changed, and when
Drone rules change, so “current” is a claim that needs receipts. This is the dated log of everything we ship, re-verify, and correct. How we verify in the first place is on the about page.
The news desk now has a return path and two new field reports
Published source-led reports on Virginia's controlled AED-drone pilot and DroneDeploy's July photogrammetry release, with FAL-generated editorial photography, explicit evidence limits, operational workflows, and crosslinks into the public-safety, mapping, software, and job-pricing guides. Added a dedicated Drone Brief signup to the newsroom and report pages, diversified the homepage story mix across beats, and limited mobile comment alerts so current reporting reaches the first viewport faster.
Open the expanded drone news deskThe legal flight boundary now separates sky, ground, and subject
Published primary-source guides for special-use airspace and TFRs, privacy and private property, and public-land launch rules. The new path distinguishes FAA airspace authority from land-manager permission and state privacy law, compares NPS, Forest Service, BLM, refuge, wilderness, state, and tribal land, and replaces the rescinded 2014 National Park policy memorandum with the current NPS Reference Manual 60 and park-compendium framework.
Open the rebuilt drone law deskEight international drone-rule guides cleared the evidence gate
Re-verified Jamaica, Colombia, Chile, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt against current aviation authorities, operating portals, regulations, airspace tools, and customs sources. The international library now has 28 indexable, source-audited guides. All 204 destinations remain searchable, but unfinished records are visibly labeled research notes and remain noindex until their operational claims pass review. Corrected material omissions in Croatia, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Peru without promoting them prematurely.
Open the international rule deskCertification handoffs now move forward
Made the official FAA and PSI scheduling handoff visible when a learner passes the simulator, promoted the full timed simulator as the final action after the fifth study module, and changed the post-certificate navigation to first-flight planning instead of sending qualified pilots back into study.
Open the certification pathNine more state drone-law guides cleared the publication gate
Completed claim-level primary-source mapping for Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Each guide now traces its summary, key rules, field checks, managed-land guidance, and wildlife guidance to named sources. Replaced a retired Michigan statute link with the current official chapter PDF. The state library now has 30 fully mapped, indexable guides; incomplete states remain transparent noindex research notes.
Browse the state law libraryNews priority, live deadlines, and stricter index integrity
Added editorial priority and expiring status to the news desk, replaced hardcoded homepage notices with the nearest active public deadline, and published a primary-source explainer on the new local counter-UAS certification rule. Tightened indexation to 20 fully claim-mapped state guides, 20 curated multi-source international guides, and 12 high-density community-state guides while keeping broader research available to users. Split the AI discovery manifest into a concise llms.txt and a complete llms-full.txt.
Read the counter-UAS rule explainerFive high-demand state guides upgraded to claim-level sourcing
Re-verified California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Washington against current state statutes and agency guidance. Each guide now maps every summary, rule, and field check to a named primary source; separates managed-land access from FAA airspace; adds state-specific wildlife constraints; and dates Washington's commercial-UAS registration fee change. The library now includes 20 fully claim-mapped state and D.C. guides.
Open the state law libraryFive state drone-law research dossiers rebuilt
Replaced placeholder summaries for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, and Utah with primary-source field guides. The new pages separate state law from park and launch-property rules, identify current wildlife restrictions, distinguish pending proposals from enacted law, and turn the source material into concrete preflight checks. Later index-integrity work made complete claim-to-source mapping the publication gate for every indexed state page.
Browse state drone lawsComplete public Part 107 ACS coverage and account-free continuity
Expanded the original practice bank to 282 questions and mapped it to all 176 public FAA-S-ACS-10B knowledge elements, with explicit notes where valid chart-reading skills have no exact element code. Rechecked all 21 FAA, eCFR, and PSI sources; added Figures 21 through 26 to the bank; corrected the current PSI topic weighting; regenerated affected podcast audio; and made study routes, flashcards, quizzes, and progress survive refresh on the current device without requiring an account.
Open the complete practice bankComplete FPV ownership bench from LiPo to crash recovery
Connected the simulator and compatibility path to four source-led ownership stations: an interactive LiPo charge and travel desk, ExpressLRS binding and link diagnosis, a props-off Betaflight release console, and crash repair and tuning triage. Added hard stops for damaged and over-voltage packs, explicit field prerequisites, a parts-arrived handoff from the FPV builder, and separate repair intent for camera drones versus repairable quads.
Open the FPV ownership benchState-specific drone community discovery
Added state-locked drone club and FPV discovery routes for 28 states with at least 15 community leads and two FPV chapters. Each route separates FPV chapters from broader AMA and meeting-site leads and links back to the underlying source. The current index gate is intentionally higher: only 12 states with at least 60 leads, three FPV chapters, and strong map coverage are indexable; the broader records remain searchable in the national explorer.
Find drone communitiesSkyRover and related-equipment FCC proposal explained
Published a primary-source breakdown of the FCC's proposed import and marketing restrictions for specified equipment tied to nine company groups, including SkyRover, Specta, Xtra, and XAG. Updated the DJI status guide to separate new-equipment authorization restrictions from the agency's proceeding on previously authorized equipment, while making clear that the proposal is not final and does not ground current owners.
Read the FCC proposal explainerOutcome-led site footer and navigation cleanup
Replaced the sitewide 42-link footer dump with three next-step paths, four curated navigation groups, a visible trust file, keyboard focus states, a Wisconsin aerial-work path, and a tighter legal and Authority Suite close. The redesign removes duplicated navigation while keeping the most useful training, rules, commercial, gear, and editorial destinations available on every page.
Open the redesigned siteSeven-story drone news seed archive
Published source-backed reports on World Cup no-drone zones, the FAA DETER enforcement program, DJI's AP100 parachute and agricultural platforms, Skydio's dock milestone, Wing and Walmart delivery expansion, and the FCC firmware-update waiver. Pinned the editorial cover story independently from chronology and expanded RSS and IndexNow support for the full archive.
Browse the expanded news deskVisual drone news desk and publisher discovery infrastructure
Added an image-led news wire directly below the homepage hero, published a source-backed Antigravity A1 update, and rebuilt every report around visible publication times, a named editorial byline, pilot takeaways, image credits, and primary sources. Added NewsArticle metadata with multiple image ratios, a two-day Google News sitemap, RSS, large-image previews, and an IndexNow publishing command for Bing and participating search engines.
Open the drone news deskACS score recovery and Part 107 decision training
Added a 176-code FAA score-report decoder, a category-aware operations-over-people and moving-vehicle decision lab, and a ten-scenario emergency trainer with branching feedback and saved progress. Expanded the validated original practice bank to 211 questions and connected every new weak-area path to its matching lesson and drill.
Decode a Part 107 score reportPart 107 question-bank and chart-lab reliability pass
Expanded the validated bank to 191 questions, rewrote weak distractors, balanced answer positions through deterministic shuffling, and added twelve drills across FAA Figures 21 through 26. Added the FAA's October 27, 2026 embedded-chart-image notice and regenerated corrected regulations and operations podcast audio.
Open the practice systemCommercial project brief and higher-quality search indexing
Added a free local-first buyer workspace that carries project scope into provider search or mission planning. Kept all 7,435 community records map-searchable while limiting standalone indexation to 136 drone-specific FPV profiles, upgraded Wisconsin to primary state sources, and enabled first-party location search.
Build a commercial project briefSitewide knowledge search
Added one search layer across Part 107 training, interactive tools, federal and international rules, state guides, flying places, drone companies, aircraft, commercial mission guides, glossary terms, and rule-watch updates. Directory and aircraft searches now preserve their filters in shareable URLs.
Search Drone AuthorityLocation preflight desk, waiver center, and buyer workflow
Rebuilt the location checker as a mission-specific preflight desk with exact map search, live-source tracking, conditional altitude, night, people, land, and pilot requirements, and a direct Operations Center handoff. Added a complete Part 107 waiver center, a national guide to hiring a drone pilot, and first-launch paths across gear pages.
Open the location preflight deskPost-pass and recurrent Part 107 lifecycle
Added the full path from a passing UAG report through IACRA, TSA vetting, temporary and permanent certificates, and first-operation readiness. Added a 24-calendar-month recency calculator with the free FAA ALC-677 and eligible Part 61 ALC-515 course paths.
Open the post-pass checklistLocal-first drone operations center
Published a free mission planner with crew, aircraft, airspace, weather, contingency, and preflight records; the FAA qualitative risk matrix; browser autosave; printable briefs; JSON backup and restore; and CSV flight and maintenance logs.
Open the operations plannerNational drone service provider finder and free claim workflow
Published a map and search layer spanning all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, with visible source status, city-level privacy controls, service filters, local sorting, free claims and corrections, and no paid ranking. Added a disclosed Tosa Marketing profile for southeast Wisconsin service requests.
Search drone service companiesCurrent PSI exam format, saved study progress, and commercial mission guides
Updated the Part 107 simulator to 65 administered questions with 60 scored items, five validation items, the current 48/20/5/2/25 PSI blueprint, and local progress recovery. Added an interactive night-vision lab, corrected Part 107 registration guidance, and published deep guides for mapping, agriculture, infrastructure, construction, public safety, journalism, conservation, and commercial software.
Open the commercial mission hubFAA UAFR proposal explainer and comment guide
Added a source-backed guide to the FAA's proposed Standard and Special UAFR process for critical infrastructure, including the August 5, 2026 comment deadline, docket links, and a practical comment framework for pilots.
Read the UAFR guideFree study plan, printable cram sheet, and the news desk
New 7- and 14-day Part 107 study plans built on the free hub, a printable cram sheet generated from the verified study modules, and a dated, source-linked drone news section. State law pages gained at-a-glance tables; the license and registration tools gained full written answers, comparison tables, and FAA source lists.
See the free study planAbout page, editorial policy, and sitewide breadcrumb data
Published our editorial, source, and correction policies. Added BreadcrumbList structured data across laws, tools, training, guides, and gear pages. Part 107 course links now route through our first-party click tracking.
Read the editorial policyCommercial drone work hub
New hub covering commercial requirements, drone job apps, insurance for commercial pilots, and a job profit calculator.
Commercial drone work hubPlaces-to-fly directory, international laws, and gear storefront
Launched the source-labeled directory of flying sites, FRIAs, clubs, and FPV chapters; country-by-country international drone law pages; and the accessory storefront organized by aircraft.
Browse places to flyLive Amazon pricing and verified product links
Product pages now pull live price bands via the Amazon Creators API with a safe static fallback, and every catalog product links to its verified listing.
Part 107 practice exam simulator upgrades
Timed simulator sets, domain-by-domain score breakdowns, a chart-reading lab with real sectional supplements, and a test-day-traps podcast episode.
Take the practice examFederal rules review and state-source audit
Federal rule pages were re-checked against FAA and NPS sources. State pages without claim-level primary citations were later moved to transparent research status and excluded from indexing until their source upgrade is complete.
Drone laws hub