so ive been flying recreationally for like two years now and a few people have asked me if i can shoot some aerial footage for them, weddings and real estate stuff mostly. i know i need the part 107 to do any paid work so i figured i should just go ahead and get it done but honestly i have no idea where to start. like do i just show up to a testing center or is there actual studying involved? how hard is the test really? i dont have any aviation background at all, never even been in a small plane. some people tell me its pretty easy if you study and other people act like its this huge deal. just want to know what i should actually do to prepare and roughly how long it took people before they felt ready

it took me about 3 weeks of studying maybe an hour a day and i passed first try with an 85. the stuff that tripped me up the most was the airspace reading and the weather sections, like METARs and TAFs, that stuff is completely foreign if you've never dealt with aviation. i used the Pilot Institute course on youtube, the free one, and then bought their practice test package which i think was like 15 bucks. honestly just drilling the practice questions over and over is what did it for me. once you see the same question types enough times it clicks. the real test is 60 questions, you need a 70 to pass, and you have two hours which is way more than enough time. go to the FAA's website and find an approved testing center near you, you schedule it through PSI or CATS depending on whats in your area. dont overthink it, if you can fly you can pass this thing

the airspace stuff is honestly the part that gets most people. like reading sectional charts and knowing what class B vs class C airspace actually means on the ground. i remember staring at those charts thinking there was no way id ever understand them and then it just kind of clicked after a while. one thing i wish someone told me earlier is that the FAA has a free study guide PDF on their site that covers literally everything on the test, i spent money on a course before i even realized that existed. not saying courses are bad but just know the free stuff is actually pretty solid