Maintenance and Preflight Inspection

Part 107 has no maintenance rules in the manned-aviation sense: no mechanic certificate, no required logbook format. What it has is §107.15: the remote pilot in command must not fly a drone that is not in a condition for safe operation. Everything below is how you meet that.

Who may do the work

Anyone. Part 107 imposes no maintenance certification requirement. The rPIC still owns the result, because the rPIC signs off on the aircraft before every flight.

Basic maintenance

• Follow the manufacturer's scheduled maintenance and replacement guidance.
• Replace life-limited parts such as propellers and batteries on schedule, not after they fail. These two fail most often and do the most damage when they do.
• Watch battery health and cycle count.
• Keep the aircraft clean, dry and free of debris.
• Keep firmware current, because it changes flight control, geofencing and battery behavior. Update well before a job, never the morning of it: a new release can change behavior you have not tested.

Preflight inspection (§107.49)

A small chip can unbalance a propeller, and the vibration can grow into a failure and loss of control. Find it on the ground.

Records

The FAA recommends keeping dated records of maintenance, repairs and part replacement. No format is required. Records show which parts fail and how often, which turns surprise failures into scheduled replacements. After an incident they show the aircraft was maintained.

Operations over people: the Declaration of Compliance

For Category 2 and 3 aircraft, the manufacturer, designer or modifier submits the Declaration of Compliance (§107.160), not the pilot. The pilot confirms the aircraft is on an FAA-accepted declaration and carries the right label before flying over people.