No, I don't have a HAM licence but I think it's only a desirable attribute rather than an essential requirement.
I applied for a free receiver a few years ago. I have a lot of experience in electronics and they seemed to be satisfied with that. The problem at that time was that the view of the airport from my house is blocked by a hill. They did not reject my application because of that but I did not pursue it further.
I have now found much better locations at the houses of friends and relatives. So far, I have not contacted FR24 again because of possible complications due to customs and legality issues.
Here's a Google Earth view from one of the sites I have earmarked:
[ATTACH=full]175233[/ATTACH]
