The Ultimate (FREE) Part 107 Study Guide

This free FAA Part 107 study guide provides you with everything you need to know to pass the FAA Part 107 knowledge exam and get your commercial drone license. We’ve even got a full (and free) Part 107 practice test available at the end of the study guide.

What you will study

This guide is several pages long and covers everything. It is specifically based on the FAA’s published test guidelines but is MUCH easier to understand. The test is broken down into five overarching topics, each of which is covered in depth. The table of contents will be to the right throughout this entire guide to help you navigate easily between the sections. If you’re ready to go, click the button below to get started. If you’d like to read a little bit more about what is on the exam and the breakdown of the content, keep reading.

This will also be helpful for you as a FAA Part 107 renewal study guide. Keep in mind though that the Part 107 renewal exam does not include questions on weather or loading and performance. Also, feel free to check out my article on the Part 107 renewal exam.

Commercial Drone License (Part 107) Test Breakdown

The percentages listed out from each section represent roughly the number of test questions that will be pulled from each section.

Drone Regulations (15-25%)

• Part 107 generally – The background of Part 107 and why these regulations were implemented.
• Requirements to get your remote pilot certificate – What the FAA requires in order for you to become a certified Part 107 drone pilot.
• Requirements for your Drone – What the FAA requires for you to register and use a drone under Part 107.
• Where you can and can’t fly – A broad overview of the general operating rules for Part 107.
• The Part 107 Application Process – The rules and process required to get your Part 107 license, if you are a new applicant and for those people that are renewing their Part 107 license.
• Cost and Expiration – How much the test costs and how long your license is valid before it needs renewed.
• What you are required to have with you when flying – Pilot certificate requirements once you have your license.
• Getting Part 107 waivers and airspace authorizations – Understanding what regulations can be waived and generally what waivers and authorizations are as well as how to apply for them.

Airspace (15-25%)

This section discusses:

• Classes of airspace– Everything you need to know about the airspace surrounding airports, including Classes B, C, D and E as well as uncontrolled airspace (Class G). We will also discuss in depth the difference between controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
• Special Use Airspace– This section discusses various types of special use airspace, including prohibited areas, restricted areas, warning areas, military operation areas, alert areas and controlled firing areas. This section will also discuss how to identify these areas on a sectional chart and includes pictures so they are easier for you to recognize.
• Notice to Airmen (NOTAMs) – Understanding these time-critical notices and how they might affect your drones flights.
• Temporary Flight Restrictions(TFRs) – This section discusses this type of NOTAM and its importance as it is one of the most common restrictions on drone flight.
• Other Airspace issues – This section will discuss local airport advisories, military training routes, parachute jump aircraft operations, published VFR routes, terminal radar service areas (TRSA), national security areas, air defense identification zones, flight restricted zones, wildlife areas, wilderness areas, national parks, and tethered balloons.

Operations (35-45%)

This section flows well from the previous section on airspace. An important part of understanding airspace is how to recognize each type of airspace on a sectional. So this section deals more with:

• Airports – An understanding of airports generally is crucial for drone pilots, including types of airports, runway orientation, and runway patterns.
• Sources of airport information – Knowing where to find pertinent information about airports, including sectional charts, chart supplements, NOTAMs and Automated Terminal Information Service (ATIS). Sectional charts is so important that we actually created a separate guide just for them. So the portion on sectional charts here is brief and is covered more in depth elsewhere.
• Radio Communications – Understanding radio frequencies, common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), automated weather observing systems (AWOS), automated surface observing system (ASOS), radio communication procedures, the aviation alphabet, placing radio calls and proper radio etiquette.
• Latitude and Longitude – Understanding lines of latitude and longitude and how to interpret location using these references. This is continually a difficult section for drone pilots but we include a really helpful video that puts it into practice.
• Antenna Towers – Recognizing the threat that antenna towers pose to drone pilots as well as how to find antennas and information about them on sectional charts.

How to Read a Sectional Chart

As a part of this operations section, we have an entire guide on How to Read a Sectional Chart if you are a drone pilot. While we mention it in the guide, this is likely the most important section and skill that a drone pilot looking to pass the Part 107 knowledge exam can have. This section will help you learn to identify:

• Airspace
• Obstructions
• Topographic information
• Miscellaneous traffic symbols
• Airports
• Airport data

Weather (11-16%)

In this section, we will discuss:

• Aviation weather tools -Understanding METARS, PIREPS and SIGMETS. You will be able to read these weather tools and determine whether it is safe to fly in current or forecasted weather.
• Basic weather concepts – A basic understanding of weather, including the formation of thunderstorms and other weather phenomena. We will also applies these concepts to how you can recognize the formation of bad weather in aviation weather tools.

Loading and Performance (7-11%)

This section deals with a myriad of topics. We will discuss:

• Load Factors for Drones – weight, stability and other load factors and how they affect drones when they fly.
• Maintenance and Pre-flight Procedures – Having a solid understanding about maintaining your drones and the types of things you should look for on your pre-flight checklist.
• Crew resource management – Knowing hazard, risk, attitudes to be avoided, mnemonic devices for dealing with and mitigating risk, automatic decision making, use of resources and the situational awareness you need to have as a drone pilot.
• Emergency procedures – Knowing what to do in the event of an emergency and having these decisions planned in advance.
• Physiological factors in pilot performance – Understanding how factors like hyperventilation, stress, fatigue, dehydration, heatstroke, drugs and alcohol affect pilot performance as well as scanning techniques when flying your drone.

This Part 107 study guide provides outlines and in-depth guides for each of these sections and every topic that will come up on your Part 107 exam. The focus here is to provide you with the knowledge that you need to pass the Part 107 knowledge exam. So this Part 107 study guide focuses as much as possible on the concepts as they relate to getting your commercial drone license.

Full Part 107 Practice Test

Finally, once you feel comfortable with the material, we would encourage you to take the free Part 107 practice test at the end of the guide. You are welcome to take this test as many times as you’d like and you should receive an email at the end from Google Forms showing your score and which questions you missed.

We would encourage you to do everything you can to make your practice test as close to the real thing as possible. On the actual exam, you will only have the following: pencil, paper, basic calculator, and scrap paper. Use all of it if you find it helpful. Write notes. Draw pictures.

If you are taking the renewal of test, your test will only be 40 questions. You will need to get 70% (or 28) of the questions correct. Also, your actual test will not include questions on weather or loading and performance. Check out our full article for what to expect on your renewal exam.

For those taking the test for the first time, you will also need to get 70% (or 42 out of 60) of the questions correct for a passing score on the test. Good luck!