Old&Ugly

You could be correct on certification steps, though I don't think that "in-the-air" reviews or observations hold any value. As you know, I'm sure, a fw student pilot can do just about anything that a veteran private pilot can.....except carry passengers, and maybe operate in some airpace (large-large airports) that a student is prohibited from. But, there is no pax carrying need for drones. Not practically anyway. Scheduling drone observation flights would be an astronomical task. I'm guessing there's more drones right now in the US that have evolved in the past 2 yrs than all flying US certified aircraft. Going to take a lot of fed folks.

I'm not sure how certification would be administered. The feds would have to hire thousands of inspectors to take care of this, or come up with a whole new "designated examiner" status for drones, or assign mfg with the responsibility. I'd assume the designees would have to be similar to those that signed off ultralight pilots. Not sure if they should have to be licensed pilots, but certainly have the knowledge of a Basic Ground Instructor (BGI).

I don't know how the feds would police the certifications, if it got that far. We can't even keep the wrong people out of our country with highly trained & armed professional govt people.

I'm not sure the "last thing" I'd want to see from an a/c windshield is a drone. A 36" wingspan 15-20# Canada goose is probably going to do more damage, and they are totally uncontrollable. Where was the public outrage when Sully plopped in the river after sucking a bunch of them thru? Hardly ever do I see drones in flocks...yet.