Airspace classes for Part 107 drone pilots
Under 14 CFR 107.41 a Part 107 drone needs prior ATC authorization (through LAANC or FAA DroneZone) in Class B, C and D airspace and within the lateral boundaries of a Class E surface area designated for an airport. Class G, and Class E that starts at 700 or 1,200 feet above ground, need no authorization. Airspace is about a fifth of the Part 107 test.
Controlled and uncontrolled
Class A through E are controlled airspace: ATC has authority there. Class G is uncontrolled, whatever hasn't been designated. A small drone lives almost entirely in Class G and the bottom of Class E.
The classes as shapes
- Class A: 18,000 feet MSL up to and including FL 600, instrument flight only. Not charted, and never yours, but tested.
- Class B: generally the surface to 10,000 feet MSL around the busiest airports, shaped like an upside-down wedding cake: a surface area with layers above it. Solid blue lines on a sectional.
- Class C: generally the surface to 4,000 feet above the airport, usually a 5 NM core from the surface and a 10 NM shelf from 1,200 feet. Under the shelf is whatever is designated below, usually Class E or G. Solid magenta lines.
- Class D: generally the surface to 2,500 feet above the airport, around airports with an operating tower. It can be part-time: when the tower closes it becomes Class E or G, as the Chart Supplement says. Dashed blue lines.
- Class E: controlled airspace that isn't A through D. Surface areas at airports without a tower (dashed magenta), transition areas from 700 feet AGL (magenta vignette), 1,200 feet AGL over most of the country (blue vignette), and 14,500 feet MSL where nothing lower is designated.
- Class G: everything else, from the surface up to the floor of the Class E above it.
The authorization rule, exactly
14 CFR 107.41: Class B, Class C, Class D, or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E designated for an airport. That's the whole list. LAANC grants near-instant authorization up to the ceiling published for each grid cell; FAA DroneZone handles the rest. An authorization to 100 feet in a cell is a ceiling for that cell, not a raise on the 400-foot rule.
Separately, 14 CFR 107.43 prohibits interfering with operations and traffic patterns at any airport, heliport or seaplane base, in any class of airspace, and temporary flight restrictions apply to Part 107 through 14 CFR 107.47.
A trap worth knowing
Part-time Class D catches pilots at dawn. If the tower opens at 7, then at 6:45 the airspace is Class E or G. Check the Chart Supplement for the hours before relying on either answer.