this is kind of a weird question but bear with me. im debating whether to bother getting certified because i do real estate photography on the side and my clients have started asking if im licensed or whatever. i looked into the part 107 and it seems like a lot to learn for something where im basically just flying around a house at 150 feet. like do you actually need to know all that airspace and weather stuff in practice or is the test just kind of a formality at this point. not trying to be lazy about it just genuinely wondering if experienced people find the knowledge useful or if its mostly for the exam and then you forget it

honestly some of it you use and some of it you dont. the airspace stuff i use constantly, like i actually do check B and C surface areas and class D towers before i go out, its just habit now. the weather stuff comes up more than youd think too, mostly knowing when conditions are actually legal vs just uncomfortable. the stuff about loading and performance calculations, yeah that i havent touched since the test. but for real estate work specifically youre going to want the cert anyway because some shooting locations are going to be near class D airspace or whatever and youll need to know how to file through LAANC. so its not just a piece of paper but its also not like you become an aviation geek overnight

get the cert, full stop. ive lost two potential real estate clients because i couldnt show proof of part 107 when they asked, one of them was a pretty big agency too. the knowledge thing is kind of secondary at that point, its just table stakes for being professional about it. the test isnt that bad, i studied maybe three weeks casually and passed first try