The short answer
400 feet above the ground. The FAA rule for commercial flights says the aircraft "cannot be higher than 400 feet above ground level", and recreational flyers are told to stay at or below 400 feet in uncontrolled airspace. Near an airport the ceiling is whatever the FAA has authorized for that spot, which is often lower.
What "above ground level" means
The 400 feet is counted from the ground directly under the drone, so the limit rises and falls with the land. That matters in Billings. The Rims stand roughly 500 feet above downtown. Take off from the top, fly out level over the valley, and the ground drops away beneath the drone until it is over the limit without having climbed at all.
The exception for tall structures
A commercial flight may go higher when it stays within 400 feet of a structure, and then no more than 400 feet above the structure's top. That is what makes it possible to photograph a tower or the roof of a tall building.
Lower limits near the airport
Much of Billings sits inside the Class C airspace around Billings Logan International Airport. There the FAA maps the highest altitude it will approve for each square of the city, and the number shrinks toward the runways. Where you can fly a drone in Billings explains how that works.
The other limits in the same rule
- Speed: no faster than 100 miles an hour over the ground.
- Visibility: at least 3 statute miles from where the pilot stands.
- Clouds: at least 500 feet below them and 2,000 feet to the side.
How high we fly for each kind of shoot
In practice most of our work is flown far lower than 400 feet.
- Ranch and land: 200 to 400 ft
- Construction progress: 100 to 300 ft
- Real estate: 40 to 200 ft
- Roof and property inspection: 20 to 60 ft
- FPV flythroughs: 0 to 30 ft
Listing aerials are shot low enough to read the house and high enough to show the lot. Roof and property inspections are flown close. Construction overviews go higher to fit the whole site in frame, and ranch and land shots go up to the 400 foot limit to fit as much of the property in as possible. On big parcels we move with the drone so it stays in view.
This page is a plain summary, not legal advice. The sources linked here are the authority, and the rules change. Last checked November 13, 2026.