01 Acceptance of these terms
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and The Pilot Drone, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“The Pilot Drone,” “we,” “us”). They govern your use of our website, our mobile apps, and everything we offer through them (the “Platform”).
By creating an account, booking a session, teaching on the Platform, or otherwise using it, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.
02 What The Pilot Drone is
The Pilot Drone connects students with independent, FAA-certified instructors. We are not a flight school, we are not the FAA, and we do not ourselves provide flight instruction. Your instructor is an independent contractor, not our employee or agent.
We verify that an instructor holds a valid FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate before they are allowed to teach on the Platform, and we provide the scheduling, payment, notification, and record-keeping tools around the session. The training itself — its content, quality, and safety on the day — is delivered by and is the responsibility of your instructor.
We do not guarantee that any instructor will be available, that a session will meet your expectations, or that you will achieve any particular result.
03 Eligibility & accounts
You must be at least 18 years old to create an account and make a booking. A parent or legal guardian may book a session for a student aged 13 to 17, in which case the guardian is the account holder, accepts these Terms on the student’s behalf, and is responsible for the student’s conduct. The Platform is not for children under 13.
You agree to give accurate information when you register, to keep it current, and to keep your password confidential. You are responsible for everything that happens under your account. Tell us immediately at hello@thepilotdrone.com if you believe it has been compromised.
One person, one account. Do not share your account, sell it, or let someone else use it.
04 Booking a session
You book by choosing a course, choosing a certified instructor, and reserving an open slot against that instructor’s live calendar. A booking is a request until the instructor accepts it. It becomes confirmed when we send you a confirmation, and you will be notified of approvals, changes, and reassignments.
Sessions are delivered either in the field (hands-on flying at a location you and your instructor agree on) or online (for regulatory prep such as Part 107). Your class hub gives you map directions for field sessions and a conference link for online ones. The conference link is private to your booking; do not share it.
If your instructor becomes unavailable, we may offer you an equally qualified replacement instructor or, if you prefer, a refund of the amount you paid for that session.
05 Payment & fees
Prices are shown before you check out and include the course fee and any drone rental you add. Payment is taken at checkout through Stripe, using a card or a supported mobile wallet, and you receive an itemised receipt. We do not receive or store your full card number.
By checking out you authorise us and Stripe to charge your payment method for the total shown, including applicable taxes. If a payment fails or is reversed, we may suspend the booking or your account until it is resolved.
Instructors: we collect the student’s payment on your behalf and pay it out to you, less our service fee, on the schedule shown in your dashboard. Our current service fee is disclosed to you before you publish a course. You are responsible for your own taxes.
Chargebacks. If you dispute a charge with your bank rather than contacting us first, we may suspend your account while the dispute is resolved. Please talk to us at hello@thepilotdrone.com — it is usually faster.
06 Cancellation, rescheduling & refunds
If you cancel
If the instructor cancels, or the weather does
You get a full refund or a free reschedule, your choice, whenever a session is cancelled by the instructor or by us.
Flying is weather-dependent. A field session may be marked “weather delayed” by your instructor or by us when conditions are unsafe or non-compliant — wind, rain, visibility, or a temporary flight restriction. You will be notified immediately and can rebook at no cost, or take a full refund. Neither we nor your instructor is liable for costs you incur around a weather cancellation, such as travel or accommodation. Safety comes before the schedule, always.
Refunds are issued to your original payment method and typically take 5 to 10 business days to appear, depending on your bank.
07 Drone rentals
If you do not own a drone, you can add a training-drone rental to your booking at checkout. The rental covers the drone and its standard accessories for the duration of your session only.
- The drone remains the property of The Pilot Drone or the instructor supplying it. It stays with your instructor at the end of the session unless you are told otherwise in writing.
- Fly it only during your session, only under your instructor’s supervision, and only as they direct.
- You are responsible for damage or loss caused by your misuse, negligence, or failure to follow your instructor’s instructions, up to the replacement cost of the equipment. We may charge the payment method on file for that amount, and we will show you the evidence and the cost first.
- You are not responsible for normal wear and tear, mechanical failure, or damage that occurs while you are following your instructor’s directions.
08 Instructor terms
This section applies if you teach on the Platform. You are an independent contractor. Nothing here creates an employment, partnership, or agency relationship, and you are free to teach elsewhere.
- Certification. You must hold a current, valid FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate, upload it for verification, and tell us immediately if it lapses, is suspended, or is revoked. Teaching without a valid certificate is grounds for immediate removal.
- Accuracy. Your profile, qualifications, course descriptions, and availability must be truthful and current.
- Delivery. You are responsible for the safety and quality of your sessions, for choosing a lawful and appropriate field site, for complying with all FAA regulations and local rules, and for honouring the bookings you accept.
- Insurance. You are responsible for carrying whatever liability insurance your jurisdiction and your practice require. We do not insure you.
- Off-platform bookings. Do not take a student you met on the Platform off the Platform in order to avoid our service fee.
- Student data. Use the student information we give you only to teach that student. Do not market to them, sell it, or keep it longer than you need it.
09 Certificates & the FAA exam
A Certificate of Completion from The Pilot Drone shows that you finished a course with us. It is not an FAA certificate, licence, or authorisation of any kind, and it does not by itself permit you to fly commercially.
The FAA Part 107 remote pilot certificate is issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, not by us. To get it you must pass the FAA’s own Aeronautical Knowledge Test at an FAA-approved testing centre and meet the FAA’s requirements, including being at least 16 years old. Our Part 107 Prep course is designed to prepare you for that exam. We cannot and do not guarantee that you will pass it.
Exam fees are paid to the testing centre, not to us.
10 Safety, conduct & compliance
When you fly — during a session or afterwards — you are responsible for complying with all applicable aviation law, including FAA regulations, airspace restrictions, temporary flight restrictions, and state and local rules.
You agree that you will not:
- Fly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or while impaired.
- Fly in restricted or controlled airspace without the required authorisation, or over people or moving vehicles where it is not permitted.
- Ignore your instructor’s safety instructions, or continue flying after they tell you to stop.
- Use the Platform to harass, threaten, discriminate against, or endanger anyone.
- Misrepresent your identity, your certification, or your experience.
- Interfere with the Platform — scraping, reverse engineering, probing its security, or circumventing its limits.
- Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, including unlawful surveillance.
Your instructor may end a session immediately, without a refund, if you behave unsafely or you are impaired.
11 Assumption of risk
Flying a drone is an inherently risky activity. It can result in property damage, serious injury, or death — to you, to your instructor, or to bystanders.
By booking a session you acknowledge those risks and you voluntarily accept them. You agree that you take part at your own risk, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, you release The Pilot Drone from claims arising out of the ordinary risks of flight training that occur despite reasonable care.
This does not release us from liability for our own gross negligence, recklessness, or wilful misconduct, and it does not waive any right you have that cannot be waived under the law where you live.
12 Intellectual property
The Platform, its software, design, branding, and the course materials we produce are owned by The Pilot Drone and protected by intellectual property law. We give you a personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use them for your own training. Do not copy, resell, republish, or distribute them.
Materials your instructor creates belong to your instructor, who grants you the same kind of personal-use licence when you take their course.
Anything you post — a review, a photo, a message — remains yours. By posting it you give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display, and use it in connection with operating and promoting the Platform. You can revoke that licence by deleting the content, except where it has already been shared with others.
13 Disclaimers
The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free; that instructor information, availability, or weather data will always be accurate; or that any course will produce a particular result, including passing the FAA Part 107 exam.
Nothing on the Platform is legal advice about aviation regulation. You are responsible for knowing and following the rules that apply to your flight.
14 Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, The Pilot Drone and its officers, directors, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of the Platform — even if we have been advised that such damages are possible.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Platform is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim, or one hundred US dollars (US$100).
Because your instructor is an independent contractor, we are not liable for their acts or omissions, including their conduct during a session.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence where the law does not permit that limitation.
15 Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Pilot Drone and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your use of the Platform, your breach of these Terms, your violation of any law or any FAA regulation, your damage to rented equipment, or your infringement of anyone’s rights.
16 Suspension & termination
You may close your account at any time from your account settings. Closing it does not entitle you to a refund of a session you have already taken, or of a cancellation charge you have already incurred.
We may suspend or terminate your account, with notice where practicable, if you breach these Terms, behave unsafely, misrepresent your certification, fail to pay, or use the Platform unlawfully. We may act without prior notice where there is a risk to someone’s safety or to the Platform.
Sections 11 through 15, and section 17, survive the end of this agreement.
17 Governing law & disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
Talk to us first. If you have a dispute, email hello@thepilotdrone.com with a description of it. We will try in good faith to resolve it informally within 30 days. Most things are settled at this stage.
If we cannot, you and we agree that any dispute will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the State of Delaware, and you and we consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. Nothing stops either of us from seeking an injunction to protect intellectual property, or from bringing a claim in small claims court.
18 Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms as the Platform changes. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above. If a change is material, we will give you notice by email or in the app at least 14 days before it takes effect.
Continuing to use the Platform after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not accept them, close your account. Changes do not apply retroactively to a dispute that arose before they took effect.
19 Contact us
Questions about these Terms: