so ive been flying for about two years now mostly just recreational stuff in my backyard and local parks but I want to start doing some real paid work, mostly real estate photography and maybe some inspections down the road. everyone keeps saying I need part 107 and I get that but I have no idea where to actually begin. like do I just walk into an testing center or is there a course I have to take first or what. I looked at the FAA website for like 20 minutes and honestly got more confused than when I started. any advice appreciated, im not in a huge rush but want to get it done before summer

ok so the good news is theres no required course, you just have to pass the knowledge test at an approved testing center (CATS or PSI locations). the bad news is the test is actually pretty dense if you dont have any aviation background. a lot of people use the Pilot Institute course on youtube or their paid version, I think the paid one is like 30 bucks or something and covers everything. the airspace stuff is what trips most people up, especially reading sectional charts. give yourself like 3-4 weeks of studying if you have zero background, more if you can only study on weekends. once you pass you register on IACRA and then wait for your temporary cert to come through, usually pretty quick.

just gonna add ? dont sleep on the FAA practice tests that are floating around online. the actual exam pulls from a question bank and a lot of the same questions show up. I used Prepware and felt like I had already seen maybe half the questions when I sat down. still study the concepts though because they do mix in some stuff that isnt straight memorization