so this has been on my mind for a while. i fly mostly for fun, occasionally post stuff on youtube but not monetizing it or anything. a buddy of mine keeps telling me to just get the 107 anyway because it opens up more airspace access and you dont have to mess with laanc as much or something. but sitting down and studying for an actual FAA test sounds pretty miserable honestly.

is the test actually hard? and how long did people realistically study before feeling ready. i keep seeing people say 2 weeks but then others say they spent like 2 months on it so i have no idea what a reasonable expectation is

i mean if you ever think theres even a small chance you might do paid work at some point, just get it. the thing is valid for two years and the recurrent is way easier than the original test. and yeah the laanc thing is real, as a 107 holder you can self authorize in a lot of controlled airspace that recreational flyers have to jump through more hoops for.

study time really depends on how much background you have. if you already know basic aviation stuff from like a private pilot cert or just being obsessed with planes, two weeks is probably fine. if airspace and weather charts are totally foreign to you then give yourself more time, maybe four to six weeks of actually sitting down with it not just kind of passively watching videos while doing other stuff

tbh i thought the same thing before i got mine. did it anyway mostly out of curiosity and yeah im glad i did. the test wasnt as brutal as i expected, i studied maybe 3 weeks using mostly free practice tests online and the FAA remote pilot study guide. failed a couple practice exams early on but by the end was consistently passing them so i felt ok going in.

one thing though, the testing fee is like $175 and you gotta go to an actual PSI or CATS testing center so its not super convenient depending on where you live. for me the nearest one was like 45 minutes away which was annoying but not a dealbreaker. the airpsace knowledge alone honestly made me a better and more confident pilot so thats probably the real answer to your question