The Part 107 exam is not difficult because every subject is advanced. It is difficult because it asks new drone pilots to think like aviators—often for the first time.
Many candidates already understand how to operate a drone. The surprise comes when the study material shifts into sectional charts, controlled airspace, coded weather reports, airport traffic patterns, and scenario questions in which several answers sound reasonable. Memorizing definitions may get you through a practice quiz, but the actual goal is to understand what the FAA expects a remote pilot in command to notice, decide, and do.
This guide identifies 12 Part 107 subjects that tend to demand the most study. They are not an official FAA ranking; they are a practical way to organize the concepts with the highest learning curve. Use the list as a diagnostic: anything that still feels uncertain belongs near the top of your study plan.
1. Reading sectional charts
Sectional charts overwhelm beginners because nearly every mark carries information. Colors, dashed and solid boundaries, airport symbols, obstacle heights, latitude and longitude, and maximum elevation figures all compete for attention.
The key is to stop treating the chart as one enormous puzzle. Start with the proposed launch point, identify the surrounding airspace, locate nearby airports and obstacles, and then check for special-use areas or other restrictions. Learn the legend, but practice using the chart to answer a flight question.
Common exam trap: Reading a number correctly but applying it to the wrong feature or airspace shelf.
2. Understanding airspace classifications
Class B, C, D, E, and G airspace can feel like an alphabet exercise. The exam becomes easier once you connect each class to three practical questions: Is the airspace controlled? Where does it begin? Do I need FAA authorization to operate there under Part 107?
Class E creates particular confusion because it can begin at the surface, at 700 feet above ground level, at 1,200 feet, or at another designated altitude. A drone may remain below a Class E transition area while still being subject to other rules and restrictions. Read the chart boundary and altitude structure instead of assuming all Class E works the same way.
3. Knowing when airspace authorization is required
“Near an airport” and “inside controlled airspace” are not interchangeable. Part 107 pilots need prior FAA authorization before operating in Class B, C, or D airspace, or within the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport. The location’s actual airspace—not distance alone—determines the requirement.
Candidates should also distinguish an authorization from a waiver. An authorization permits an operation in controlled airspace under specified conditions. A waiver allows deviation from a waivable regulation after the applicant demonstrates an acceptable level of safety. LAANC is a system used to obtain many airspace authorizations; it is not permission to ignore the conditions attached to the approval.
4. Decoding METARs and TAFs
Aviation weather reports look like a wall of abbreviations until you learn their fixed order. A METAR describes observed conditions at an airport. A TAF forecasts conditions for a defined period. Both become manageable when decoded one group at a time: station, time, wind, visibility, weather, clouds, temperature and dew point, and pressure.
Do not study them as a vocabulary list only. Translate each report into a decision: How strong is the wind? Are gusts present? Is visibility sufficient? Is there a ceiling? Is the temperature–dew point spread narrowing? What might those conditions do to a small unmanned aircraft?
5. Connecting weather theory to drone performance
Weather questions often test cause and effect. Unstable air is associated with turbulence and showery precipitation; stable air tends to produce smoother conditions, poor visibility, and steady precipitation. A narrowing temperature–dew point spread can indicate increasing saturation and the potential for fog or low clouds.
Density altitude is another frequent stumbling block. Hot temperatures, high elevations, and low atmospheric pressure reduce air density. Lower-density air can reduce propeller efficiency and aircraft performance. For a drone pilot, the practical lesson is that a payload and flight profile that work comfortably on a cool day near sea level may leave less performance margin in hot, high conditions.
6. Remembering Part 107 operating limitations
Part 107 contains numbers that are easy to mix together: 400 feet above ground level, the allowance to remain within 400 feet of a structure and fly no more than 400 feet above its immediate uppermost limit, 100 mph groundspeed, three statute miles of flight visibility, and specified distances from clouds.
A better strategy is to attach every number to an operational question. How high can I fly here? How fast can the aircraft travel? Can I maintain visual line of sight? What visibility and cloud clearance must be present? What changes near a structure? Context makes the limits easier to retrieve than an isolated list.
7. Operations over people and moving vehicles
Operations over people are difficult because permission depends on the aircraft, its eligibility category, the people below, and the nature of the operation. Categories 1 through 4 do not represent four levels a pilot simply chooses at the launch site. Each has aircraft and operational conditions that must be satisfied.
Pay close attention to exposed rotating parts, aircraft weight, FAA declarations of compliance where applicable, open-air assemblies, Remote ID conditions, and the difference between transient flight and sustained flight. Operations over moving vehicles introduce additional restrictions and deserve separate study.
8. Remote Identification
Remote ID becomes clearer when divided into three compliance paths: operate a Standard Remote ID drone, attach a Remote ID broadcast module and follow its conditions, or operate within an FAA-recognized identification area when eligible to do so.
Students should understand how registration information connects to the aircraft or module, what operational limitations apply to a broadcast module, and what a pilot should do if Remote ID equipment is not functioning as required. Remote ID broadcasts identification and location-related information; it is not an air traffic control clearance.
9. Night operations and anti-collision lighting
Night operations combine regulation, equipment, and human performance. To operate at night under Part 107 without a waiver, the pilot must meet the applicable training or testing requirement and the aircraft must have anti-collision lighting visible for at least three statute miles. The remote pilot may reduce the light’s intensity when necessary for safety.
The exam can also test night vision, dark adaptation, visual illusions, and the effect of bright light on the eyes. A legal night operation can still be unsafe if the pilot cannot maintain orientation, see hazards, or accurately judge distance.
10. Loading, balance, and aircraft performance
Payload questions are rarely just about staying below the 55-pound Part 107 threshold. A load can shift the center of gravity, change handling, increase power demand, extend stopping distance, or reduce the aircraft’s ability to respond to wind.
Think through every loading problem in the same order: Is the total aircraft system within its limits? Is the payload secure? Where is the center of gravity? How will temperature, altitude, wind, and battery condition affect the available performance margin?
11. Airport operations and radio terminology
Non-pilots may never have needed to interpret runway numbers, traffic-pattern direction, airport lighting, CTAF frequencies, or aviation phonetics. The exam expects remote pilots to understand the environment in which crewed aircraft operate—even when the drone pilot is not communicating by radio.
Learn to visualize the pattern: departure, crosswind, downwind, base, and final. Recognize which runway an aircraft is likely to use based on the wind. Most importantly, remember that the small unmanned aircraft must yield the right of way to other aircraft.
12. Solving scenario questions like a remote PIC
Scenario questions are challenging because the FAA is evaluating judgment, not just recall. The remote pilot in command has final responsibility and authority for the operation. That responsibility includes the crew, aircraft condition, environment, airspace, and response to abnormal events.
Study aeronautical decision-making tools such as IMSAFE and PAVE, hazardous attitudes and their antidotes, crew resource management, lost-link procedures, flyaways, low-battery events, preflight inspections, and accident reporting. When two answers both sound possible, identify which one most directly protects people and aircraft while complying with the rule.
How to use these 12 topics in your study plan
- Take a mixed practice test without looking up the answers.
- Sort every missed question into one of the 12 areas above.
- Study your two weakest areas first.
- Practice scenario questions instead of reviewing definitions alone.
- Explain each answer aloud in plain English. If you cannot explain why it is correct, the subject needs more work.
- Return to mixed practice tests so you learn to switch between regulations, charts, weather, and judgment.
Practice with All About UAVs
All About UAVs offers a dedicated Part 107 training and practice-test experience designed to help you work through the material and identify the subjects that need more attention. You can also visit our Part 107 training page for the study pathway and additional resources.
This article is the starting point for a deeper All About UAVs series. Each of the 12 subjects will receive its own plain-English lesson, worked examples, common exam traps, and practice questions. Bookmark the Part 107 Exam Study Guide to follow the complete series.
Use official FAA materials too
Study tools are most useful when paired with the source material. Review the FAA’s remote pilot certification guidance, Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards, and Remote Pilot Study Guide. Regulations and FAA guidance can change, so verify current requirements before testing or flying.
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