Part 107 airspace cheat sheet: classes, authorization and LAANC

Controlled versus uncontrolled airspace

Airspace is controlled where air traffic control provides service: Class A, B, C, D and E. Class G is uncontrolled. Under 14 CFR 107.41, a small unmanned aircraft may not operate in Class B, Class C or Class D airspace, or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport, without prior authorization from the FAA.

Class G, and Class E that does not start at the surface, need no airspace authorization for Part 107 flight, though every other rule still applies.

• Class A: 18,000 feet MSL and above, not relevant to Part 107 operations under 400 feet.
• Class B: the busiest airports; solid blue lines on a sectional chart.
• Class C: busy airports with radar approach control; solid magenta lines.
• Class D: airports with an operating control tower; dashed blue lines.
• Class E to the surface: dashed magenta lines around some airports.

Getting an authorization: LAANC and DroneZone

Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) grants authorizations in near-real time, up to the altitude shown for each grid square on the FAA's UAS facility maps. Requests above those altitudes, or where LAANC is not available, go through FAA DroneZone and take longer.

The authorization must be in hand before the flight begins. It lets you enter controlled airspace; it does not waive any operating rule. A waiver is a separate approval to deviate from a waivable rule.

Special use and temporary restrictions

Temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) are issued by NOTAM for events such as VIP movements, disasters and large stadium events, and they change daily. Check NOTAMs before every flight.

Military operations areas (MOAs) and military training routes (MTRs) are charted; flight is permitted, but low-level, high-speed military traffic is possible, so extra vigilance is needed.

Chart numbers the test loves

Airspace floors and ceilings, obstruction tops and the maximum elevation figure are given in feet MSL, while the Part 107 400-foot limit is AGL. The most common trap is mixing the two.

• Maximum elevation figure (MEF): the highest known feature in a quadrangle, terrain and obstructions combined, in thousands and hundreds of feet MSL.
• Obstructions: the bold number is the top in MSL; the number in parentheses is the height in AGL.
• Class D and Class C ceilings are printed in hundreds of feet MSL, for example 40 meaning 4,000 feet MSL.