Liftoff Pilot
Pass the drone test, then find your first paying client
Liftoff gets you ready for the FAA's Part 107 test with practice worded the way the real test asks its questions. Then it helps you pick a kind of drone work, price it and send your first message to a realtor or a roofer. Both halves come in one purchase, and it runs in the browser on your phone.
- Pass or get your money back
- FAA source on every explanation
- One payment, no subscription
Try one from the trainer
(Refer to FAA-CT-8080-2H, Figure 20, area 1.) Which frequency is the control tower frequency for Norfolk International Airport?
The label under NORFOLK INTL reads "CT - 120.8," and CT marks the control tower frequency. 127.15 is the ATIS, and 118.9 is the Norfolk Approach frequency shown in the magenta box.
Source: FAA-CT-8080-2H, Figure 20
Who Liftoff is for
- If you're working a day job, you already own a drone and you'd like weekend money without the hype.
- If you're the one your boss handed a drone to, and you need to be legal before the first flight for work.
- If you're shooting real estate and agents keep asking whether you do aerials.
- If you're eyeing a full-time drone job in inspection or construction and haven't flown yet.
- If you're running a roofing, landscaping or farm business and want something to sell in the slow season.
What people say when they start
Most people who sit the Part 107 test pass it. The trouble tends to come on either side of test day.
Before it, the study material is long, and the test phrases rules in ways that catch people who actually knew the answer. After it, you have a license in your wallet and nobody has told you what a listing agent pays for aerial photos, or how to ask a roofer if he needs a pilot.
We built Liftoff around both of those stretches.
watched like 3 videos, and immeadiately stopped due to how overwhelming it was
r/Part107The biggest issue wasn't that I didn't know the material... it was the way the questions were worded
r/Part107, after a failed attemptPassed the test today, what now?
r/Part107I always have the feeling that I'm either lowballing myself, or I'm charging clients too much
r/RealEstatePhotography
What you get
Get licensed
The test trainer
Everything for passing, arranged so twenty spare minutes at lunch actually get you somewhere.
- 300+ practice questions, organized by the five ACS areas
- Regulations, airspace, weather, loading and performance, and operations each get their own section. When airspace is your weak spot, open that section and stay there, instead of scrubbing through a long video to find your place.
- Chart Lab
- More than 40 chart questions drawn on the figures in the FAA testing supplement, the same booklet the test center puts on your desk. By test day the pages look familiar.
- Timed mock exams in the real format: 60 questions, 2 hours, 70% to pass
- Sit one on a Sunday afternoon and you'll know how two hours of airspace and weather questions feel before they count.
- A review queue
- Questions you miss keep coming back until you get them right. The night before the test, you're only looking at the ones that still trip you up.
- A readiness score for each area
- It tells you whether to book the test this week or give weather a few more evenings.
- Explanations that show their source
- Each answer is explained in plain English and names the FAA document or eCFR section behind it. When two videos disagree about a rule, you can check it yourself in under a minute.
Get paid
The First Paid Flight kit included
For the day your certificate shows up and you're wondering who actually pays for this.
- Guides to each kind of drone work
- Real estate, roofs, construction, events, farms and inspection careers: where the paid work is, what's crowded in most towns and what each one asks of you. Read them the week you're deciding whether to call realtors or roofers first.
- Portfolio shot lists
- The five shots to have ready before you pitch anyone, listed for each kind of work. Most can be shot over your own house or a friend's before anybody is paying you.
- Pricing sheets
- Typical pay ranges by job type, each with the place the number came from. Keep it open when a client asks what you charge, so you aren't inventing a number on the phone.
- Client message scripts
- First messages for real estate agents, roofers and local businesses, short enough to send from your truck between jobs.
- Business setup checklist
- Drone registration, Remote ID, insurance, and the business and tax basics, in the order you will run into them.
- Send-to-your-boss email
- A ready email asking your employer to cover the cost, for when the drone belongs to the company.
- A 30-day plan
- Day by day, from license in hand to your first paid flight.
How it works
Open it on your phone or laptop
Buy once and the trainer opens in your browser. There's nothing to download from an app store.
Study until your scores say you are ready
Work area by area, clear your review queue, then take full mock exams. When you are scoring 80% or better on them, book the test.
Take the test at a PSI center
PSI is the company the FAA uses to run the test. You book through them, and PSI sets the test fee and shows it when you book. Afterward you apply for your certificate online, and the kit's checklist walks you through that form.
Work the kit toward a first paid job
Choose your kind of work, shoot your five portfolio photos, set your prices from the sheets and send your first few messages.
How the usual options compare
| Compared on | Free videos | Typical long test course | Liftoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | About $120 to $300 | $49 one time |
| Plain English | Depends on the channel | Long video lessons; some students find it a lot at once | Short explanations on every question |
| Practice worded like the real test | A few free practice sets | Usually included | Question bank and timed 60-question mocks, written to match the FAA's published test standards |
| Sources on every answer | Up to you to check | Varies by course | Yes, FAA or eCFR |
| Getting paid covered | Scattered across forums | Often a separate business course for $119 or more | Yes, the kit comes with it |
| Updates | Depends on the creator | Some plans limit access to a few months or a year | Future questions and kit updates included |
Typical course prices are what test prep sites showed on 13 September 2026. Their prices and sales change often.
What it costs
A typical Part 107 course runs about $120 to $300. Courses that teach the business side usually sell it as a separate purchase, and those start around $119. Liftoff Pilot covers the test and the getting-paid part in one payment, with every future question and kit update included.
No subscription, no upsell. The FAA knowledge test itself is paid to PSI when you book it.
$49
$49 once, lifetime access
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The guarantee
Pass the Part 107 test or get your $49 back. Finish two full mock exams with a score of 80% or higher, take the real test within 60 days of buying, and if you don't pass, email us your Airman Knowledge Test Report. We refund you in full.
Questions people ask before buying
Can't I just learn this free on YouTube?
Plenty of people pass that way, and good free videos exist. What you'd be paying for here is practice that reads like the real test, a way to check every answer against the rule it comes from, and the part free videos rarely cover: choosing your work, pricing it and finding the first client.
Is the drone market too crowded to bother?
Some of it is. Basic real estate photos in a busy city are a hard place to start. The guides in the kit say plainly which kinds of work are crowded, and most people who earn from drones add it to something they already do, like a photographer adding aerials or a roofer checking roofs without a ladder.
I've never flown a drone. Is that a problem?
No. The Part 107 test is a written knowledge test, and the FAA's eligibility rules don't ask for flight hours. You can pass it before you own a drone. The kit covers practice flying and a first portfolio for after.
I'm bad at tests. Will the wording get me?
The wording is what trips a lot of people up, which is why the questions here are written to match how the FAA phrases things and why the mock exams run on the real clock. Your area scores show you where you are shaky long before test day.
I only have evenings. How long will this take?
Most people in the Part 107 forums report studying for one to three weeks. The trainer saves your place, so ten minutes on a phone at lunch still counts.
How much can I actually make?
We won't promise a number, because it depends on your town and your work. For a sense of scale, PhotoUp's real estate drone pricing guide puts beginners around $75 to $150 per property and more experienced pilots around $150 to $300. The pricing sheets list typical ranges for other kinds of work, each with its source.
Will my employer pay for it?
Often, if you'll be flying for the business, because that flying needs the certificate. The kit has an email you can send, and there's a page for employers with team seats.
What happens if I fail the test?
You can book a retake once 14 days have passed. The guarantee above spells out exactly when you get your $49 back.
Is this a subscription?
No. You pay once and keep access, including new questions and kit updates.
Is Liftoff part of the FAA?
No. Liftoff is an independent company. The questions are written to match the FAA's published test standards, and each explanation links to the FAA or eCFR source.
Get licensed, then get your first paid job
If you'd rather see the questions first, the free practice test gives you 20 of them and a score for each area.
Liftoff is an independent study tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. See the terms and privacy policy.