1.10 Preflight Familiarization and Actions

Preflight Familiarization and Actions (Section 107.49)

Before every flight — not just the first of the day — the Remote PIC must complete a structured preflight assessment. The regulatory list is short; the exam expects you to know both the required items from Section 107.49 and the best-practice checks that flow from them.

Required Preflight Actions (Section 107.49)

Prior to flight, the Remote PIC must:

1. Assess the operating environment, considering risks to people and property in the air and on the surface.
2. Verify the operation can stay within the aircraft's limitations in those conditions.
3. Determine that the sUAS is in a condition for safe operation, including inspecting all links between the control station and the aircraft.
4. Ensure adequate power for the intended operation plus a safe reserve to land without incident.
5. Ensure all persons directly participating are informed of the operating conditions, emergency procedures, contingency procedures, roles, and potential hazards.

Operating-Environment Assessment

Aircraft and System Inspection

Because Section 107.49 requires the aircraft to be in a condition for safe operation, a practical preflight covers:

• Airframe: cracks, loose parts, secure and undamaged propellers, intact landing gear, tight fasteners.
• Electronics: current firmware, GPS lock, healthy control link, configured Return-to-Home (RTH), valid compass calibration.
• Battery: charge sufficient for the mission plus reserve; no swelling or deformation; secure connection; account for temperature effects.
• Payload: secure, total weight within limits, center of gravity acceptable, sensors/props unobstructed.
• Control station: controller battery, screen brightness/visibility, working stick and switch inputs, secure tablet mount.

Communication Links

The Remote PIC must confirm all links are healthy:

• Command-and-control (C2) link — sends flight commands to the aircraft.
• Telemetry link — returns battery, altitude, GPS, and status data.
• Video link — if used for situational awareness, but never as the means of maintaining visual line of sight.

Certificate and Document Availability (Section 107.7)

Separate from the preflight check, Section 107.7 requires the Remote PIC to present, on request by the FAA, the Remote Pilot Certificate, the aircraft registration, and any other document, record, or report required to be kept — and to allow the FAA to inspect the aircraft and operation. Have these ready before you launch.

Worked Preflight Scenario

You arrive to map a 30-acre field. Wind is 12 knots gusting 20; your aircraft's manual lists a 22-knot maximum. You check that the operation stays within that limit (item 2), confirm 3+ statute miles visibility, pull up the area for TFRs/NOTAMs, verify you are in Class G airspace (no authorization needed), confirm a battery reserve for the full grid plus return, and brief your visual observer on the lost-link RTH plan. Mid-day you swap batteries and fly a second mission — Section 107.49 requires you to reassess before that flight too, even though conditions seem unchanged.

Post-Flight (Best Practice, Not Required)

Log the flight, inspect the airframe for new damage, review battery performance, document any anomaly or interference, and secure the aircraft and batteries for transport.

For the exam: the load-bearing fact is that the operating-environment and aircraft-condition assessment is required before every flight, the power check must include a reserve, and a flight plan filing or law-enforcement notification is never required under Part 107.

A Repeatable Preflight Discipline

Section 107.49 is deceptively short, but it carries the legal weight of the entire pre-launch process. The exam tests both the five required actions and the practical judgment that flows from them. The unifying principle: the Remote PIC must actively confirm the operation is safe every single time, never assuming yesterday's conditions still hold.

The Five Required Actions, Restated as Questions

Turn the rule into a self-interrogation you run before each launch:

"Before Every Flight" Means Every Flight

The single most tested nuance is that this is not a once-per-day task. Swap a battery and launch again, move to a new field, or resume after a weather hold, and you owe a fresh assessment. Conditions drift: wind picks up, a school lets out and floods the area with people, a TFR pops up for an unexpected VIP movement. A pilot who skips the second-flight assessment because "nothing changed" is exactly the case the FAA wrote the rule against.

Environment, Then Machine, Then Crew

A clean preflight flows outside-in. First the environment: weather (visibility, wind/gusts, ceiling, density altitude), airspace class and any authorization, TFRs and NOTAMs, ground hazards, and sources of electromagnetic interference near power lines and towers. Then the machine: airframe integrity, secure props, current firmware, GPS lock, configured Return-to-Home, compass calibration, battery health and charge with reserve, and secure payload within weight and center-of-gravity limits.

Then the links: command-and-control, telemetry, and any video feed — the latter for situational awareness only, never as the means of maintaining visual line of sight. Finally the crew brief: roles, lost-link/RTH behavior, and abort criteria.

Document Availability (Section 107.7)

Separate from the flight-readiness check, Section 107.7 obliges the Remote PIC to present — on FAA request — the Remote Pilot Certificate, the aircraft registration, and any other required record, and to permit inspection of the aircraft and operation. Have them ready before launch so an inspection never grounds you mid-mission.

Worked example: You finish a morning mapping grid, land, and the client asks for a second pass an hour later after clouds rolled in. You must re-run the 107.49 assessment: re-check the ceiling against your 500-ft cloud clearance, re-confirm visibility is still 3+ SM, reseat a fresh battery with reserve, re-brief your VO. "It was fine an hour ago" is not a legal substitute for reassessment, and the exam will reward the answer that insists on a fresh check before the second flight.