Part 107 Airspace, Explained

The FAA divides the sky into classes so pilots and air traffic control know who's in charge where. For drones, you don't need to master all of it like an airline pilot — you need to know which airspace requires permission and how to get it. Let's strip it down.

Controlled vs. uncontrolled — the only split that matters first

Controlled airspace (Classes A, B, C, D, and the surface areas of E) has active air traffic control. As a drone pilot, you need authorization before flying in it. Uncontrolled airspace — Class G — has no ATC service, and that's where the vast majority of legal drone flying happens. You don't need prior authorization for Class G, though you still follow every Part 107 rule (400 ft, daylight or twilight, visual line of sight, and so on).

The classes in plain English

• Class A — 18,000 ft and up. Airliner territory. You'll never fly a drone here; just know it exists.
• Class B — the busiest airports (think major cities). Shaped like an upside-down wedding cake. Solid blue on a sectional. Authorization required.
• Class C — mid-size, moderately busy towered airports. Solid magenta. Authorization required.
• Class D — smaller airports with an operating control tower. Dashed blue. Authorization required.
• Class E — controlled airspace that usually starts at 700 or 1,200 ft AGL, so the surface is often Class G. But where Class E reaches the surface (a dashed magenta ring on the chart), you need authorization.
• Class G — uncontrolled. Where most drone flights happen. No prior authorization needed.

Notice the pattern: every class except G can require authorization near the ground. That's the whole game. To see exactly how these appear on a map, read how to read a sectional chart.

How to tell which airspace you're standing in

Three reliable ways:

• A sectional chart — the border colors above tell you instantly. Practice with our free Sectional Chart Decoder.
• A LAANC app like Aloft or the FAA's B4UFLY — type in your location and it shows the airspace and whether you can fly.
• Our quick checker — is LAANC required here?

Getting authorization with LAANC

LAANC — the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability — is how drone pilots get near-instant approval to fly in controlled airspace. In areas covered by a UAS Facility Map grid (which shows the maximum altitude pre-approved for each area), you request through an approved app and often get authorization in seconds, for free. For locations or altitudes LAANC doesn't cover, you submit a request through the FAA DroneZone, which takes longer. Either way: get the authorization before you fly.

The 400-foot rule (and the structure exception)

In Class G, your ceiling is 400 ft AGL. The one exception: if you're inspecting a tall structure, you may fly up to 400 ft above that structure's top, as long as you stay within 400 ft laterally of it. In controlled airspace, your ceiling is whatever the UAS Facility Map grid authorizes — which may be lower than 400 ft near a busy airport.

Frequently asked questions