A sUAS is required to maintain a minimum clearance of 500 feet below a cloud.

• A. 1,000 feet below a cloud
• B. 500 feet below a cloud
• C. 100 feet below a cloud
• D. 2,000 feet below a cloud

Answer: (B)

Cloud clearance for a small unmanned aircraft system focuses on staying out of weather and keeping enough vertical buffer to maintain visibility and control. The required minimum is to stay at least 500 feet below any cloud. This gap helps ensure you can continuously see the drone and spot other aircraft or weather developments, reducing the chance of inadvertently entering cloud cover where visibility is compromised. Using this 500-foot buffer keeps you within visual line of sight and in visual meteorological conditions. Larger buffers would still meet the rule but aren’t the minimum, while a smaller buffer could put you too close to clouds and increase risk.