Part 107 Night Operations: Lighting, Currency and What the Exam Tests (2026)

Night operations stopped being a waiver item on April 21, 2021, when the FAA moved them inside Part 107 and replaced the paper waiver with two conditions: training and lighting. A remote pilot in command may fly at night without a waiver if the pilot has completed a knowledge test or training under §107.65 after April 6, 2021 and the aircraft has anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles.

What Changed on April 21, 2021

The final rule, Operation of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Over People, was published on January 15, 2021 as Amendment 107-8 and took effect on April 21, 2021. It rewrote §107.29, previously headed "Daylight operation", and added night operations to the knowledge areas in §107.73.

Old waivers died with it: those issued before April 21, 2021 could not be used at night after May 17, 2021, and those issued before March 16, 2021 terminated on that date (§107.29(d)). Section 107.205(b) still allows a waiver of §107.29(a)(2) and (b), the lighting paragraphs, but never the training requirement. Our waiver guide lists the rest.

What Night Means in the Regulation

Part 107 borrows the definition in 14 CFR 1.1: night is the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time.

Civil twilight has its own rule. Outside Alaska it runs from 30 minutes before official sunrise to sunrise, and from official sunset to 30 minutes after; in Alaska the Air Almanac governs (§107.29(c)).

Period	When it runs	Lighting
Daylight	Sunrise to sunset	No §107.29 requirement
Civil twilight	30 minutes either side of sunrise and sunset	Required, §107.29(b)
Night	End of evening to beginning of morning civil twilight	Required, §107.29(a)

Civil twilight is not night, yet §107.29(b) requires the same lighting during it.

The Lighting Requirement in 107.29

Section 107.29(a)(2) requires lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision. The rule sets no color and no candela figure, only visibility and conspicuity.

• The 3 statute miles applies to the light, not to the §107.51(c) visibility minimum.
• A flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision, so steady LEDs are not automatically compliant.
• The pilot may reduce intensity but may not extinguish the lighting.
• Verify it on the ground before launch.

What Still Applies After Dark: 107.51 and 107.49

Nothing in §107.29 relaxes the operating limits. Section 107.51 still caps groundspeed at 87 knots and altitude at 400 feet above ground level, and still requires 3 statute miles of flight visibility from the control station with 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from cloud.

Section 107.49 covers weather, airspace and restrictions, the crew briefing, control links, power and secure attachments. Add three items:

• Check the lighting and the display brightness before launch.
• Note lit and unlit obstacles, and pick a second landing area.
• Confirm no stadium TFR or other restriction starts after sunset.

Currency, Training and the April 6, 2021 Line

Section 107.29(a)(1) is the part pilots forget. To fly at night the remote pilot in command must have completed a knowledge test or training under §107.65 after April 6, 2021. A pilot certificated earlier who has not tested since fails the night requirement, whatever the aircraft carries.

Beyond that, §107.65 requires one qualifying event within the previous 24 calendar months. Recurrent training covers every area in §107.73, including night, so a current pilot is current at night. The recurrent training guide explains the calculation.

How Night Operations Appear on the UAG Test

Operation at night is §107.73(m), the thirteenth knowledge area, so night questions appear on the UAG test and in recurrent training. The test is 60 questions in 120 minutes with a 70 percent pass mark, and night questions turn on exact text.

• Which rule governs night flight? Section 107.29, not a waiver.
• When are lights required? At night under (a) and during civil twilight under (b).
• How far must they be visible? At least 3 statute miles.
• Can the pilot switch them off? No, only reduce intensity.
• Is a waiver possible? Only for the lighting paragraphs.
• What is night? The 14 CFR 1.1 definition, not sunset or clock time.

Read the rule beside the Part 107 study guide; the numbered sections are what the answers turn on.

Night Vision and the Illusions That Cause Accidents

Cones handle color and sharp central vision and need light. At night the rods take over, and a dim object is easier to see by looking slightly off to one side than by staring at it.

Dark adaptation takes roughly 30 minutes in the FAA handbooks, and one phone screen can undo much of it. Set up the ground station first, use a red headlamp, and do not judge position from the screen alone.

Two illusions are taught explicitly. Autokinesis is the apparent movement of a stationary light stared at against featureless darkness, which can make a star seem to drift. The black hole approach happens over unlit terrain toward a lighted runway with no horizon: peripheral cues vanish, the approach looks too high, and a pilot who trusts the picture descends below the intended path. Cross check instruments and fly a briefed profile.

Airport and Obstacle Lighting, and Reading Charts at Night

Runway edge lights are white, except that on instrument runways yellow replaces white on the last 2,000 feet or half the runway length, whichever is less. Runway end lights show red toward the runway and green outward to mark the threshold. Taxiway edge lights are blue and centerline lights green. A beacon flashing white and green marks a lighted land airport; white and yellow means a water airport.

Obstruction lighting is the other half. The FAA expects structures over 200 feet above ground level, or ones penetrating a Part 77 surface, to be marked or lighted, and tall towers carry red lights with white strobes. A failed lamp is invisible, so NOTAMs and a site survey matter more than the chart.

Sectional obstacles show height above mean sea level with height above ground in parentheses, plus the maximum elevation figure per quadrangle. At night the parenthetical number is the one that matters, and our sectional chart guide covers the symbols.

Building a Night Proficiency Habit

Legal is not proficient. Fly the first night sorties in familiar airspace with a visual observer and keep the aircraft closer than in daylight. Rehearse a lost link and a lighting failure on the ground, check your currency date, then try a free Part 107 practice question and compare plan options.