It seems like all that hype from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about using drones for deliveries wasn't hype after all. The Federal Aviation Administration announced today that it has awarded an experimental airworthiness certificate for a drone design presented by Amazon Logistics, the online retailer's in-house fulfillment and delivery company.

The certificate amounts to a learner's permit for drone operations. It allows Amazon to conduct flight operations under 400 feet altitude, during daylight hours, "in visual meteorological conditions," the FAA announcement states. Additionally, the certificate requires that "the [unmanned aircraft] must always remain within visual line-of-sight of the pilot and observer. The pilot actually flying the aircraft must have at least a private pilot’s certificate and current medical certification."

As with all of the experimental drone airworthiness certificates being issued by the FAA in advance of formal approval of unmanned aircraft, Amazon's permission slip to fly comes with some oversight. Amazon will have to report monthly data to the FAA on how many flights it conducted, the amount of pilot time associated with each flight, and information on "unusual hardware or software malfunctions, any deviations from air traffic controllers’ instructions, and any unintended loss of communication links."

These conditions don't exactly lend themselves to Amazon using drones very soon to help with the one-hour delivery to Amazon Prime customers the company announced recently. But they put Amazon in position to be among the very first commercial drone operators in the US once the FAA gives approval for full integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace.