Part 107 loading and performance questions ask whether an aircraft can carry its load, remain balanced, and perform the planned flight in the conditions given. Work through them in that order: total weight, weight distribution, then available performance. A drone can be under its weight limit and still be unsafe because its center of gravity is outside limits or the day’s conditions leave too little performance margin.
The examples below are original teaching exercises, not questions from the FAA exam bank or specifications for a real aircraft.
On this page
- Know which concept the question is testing
- Add every takeoff item before comparing limits
- Calculate balance with moments, not an average of positions
- Separate stability, control and aircraft type
- Read the level-turn condition before using load factor
- Use density altitude to interpret performance data
- Explain the answer, then change one input
Know which concept the question is testing
The FAA’s Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards, Area IV, Task A, covers loading changes, balance, stability, center of gravity, and using performance data. The task is broader than memorizing a maximum payload. You need to explain what changes and use the limits or chart supplied.
For each question, underline the condition that controls the answer: including everything attached, within the CG limits, coordinated level turn, or at the stated temperature and altitude. Then identify whether you need arithmetic, a directional answer, or a comparison against a limit. For the surrounding topics, use the Part 107 study sequence.
Add every takeoff item before comparing limits
There are separate checks for the legal weight definition and the aircraft’s own loading limits. Under 14 CFR Part 107, section 107.3, as summarized in FAA AC 107-2A, a small unmanned aircraft weighs less than 55 pounds at takeoff, counting everything aboard or attached. That does not give every drone a 55-pound capacity.
Worked question: A fictional aircraft weighs 42 lb with its flight battery installed. Its sensor weighs 8 lb and the complete mounting assembly weighs 5 lb. Does it meet the Part 107 small-aircraft weight definition?
Takeoff weight = 42 + 8 + 5 = 55 lb.
It does not. Exactly 55 lb is not less than 55 lb. The trap is either forgetting the mount or treating the boundary as inclusive. Count the battery once: this question already includes it in the 42 lb starting weight.
Now change the mount to 4 lb. The total becomes 54 lb, which meets this weight definition. That alone does not establish that the aircraft can fly the load. Its manufacturer may set a lower maximum weight, an attachment limit, or a more restrictive allowable configuration. For a conventional fixed-wing aircraft, excess loading can increase takeoff and stall speeds and reduce climb performance. For a multirotor, ask whether the propulsion system can support the loaded aircraft with the margin its instructions require; a runway-distance figure does not answer that question.
The FAA’s Remote Pilot Study Guide, chapter 4, warns that even a stated maximum gross takeoff weight may be unsuitable in some conditions. Avoid answering “safe to fly” when the question has established only “below one limit.”
Calculate balance with moments, not an average of positions
The center of gravity (CG) is the point where the aircraft would balance. An arm is an item’s distance from a specified reference datum. A moment combines the item’s weight and its arm, so a heavier item or a more distant item has a greater effect on balance.
The FAA’s Weight and Balance chapter gives this calculation:
Moment = weight × arm. CG arm = total moment ÷ total weight.
Worked loading calculation
Assume a fictional aircraft uses positive arms measured aft from the same datum. Its permitted CG range at the weight below is 9.5 to 10.8 inches. The aircraft row excludes the battery and payload, which are listed separately.
| Item | Weight (lb) | Arm (in) | Moment (lb-in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft without battery or payload | 6 | 10 | 60 |
| Battery | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| Payload and mount | 2 | 16 | 32 |
| Total | 10 | Not applicable | 104 |
Source basis: FAA weight-and-moment method; all equipment values and limits are invented teaching inputs, not operating data.
CG arm = 104 lb-in ÷ 10 lb = 10.4 in.
The result lies inside the stated 9.5–10.8 in range. Dividing the three arms by three would give the wrong result because their associated weights differ. The 6 lb aircraft contributes more to the combined CG than either 2 lb item.
Move the payload without adding weight
Move the same 2 lb payload and mount from the 16 in station to the 20 in station. Its moment becomes 40 lb-in. Total moment becomes 60 + 12 + 40 = 112 lb-in, while total weight stays 10 lb.
New CG arm = 112 ÷ 10 = 11.2 in.
The aircraft is now outside the fictional aft limit, despite having exactly the same total weight. Relocate the load and recalculate before flight. Do not assume a flight controller’s ability to hold attitude proves the loading acceptable.
In a real calculation, use the manufacturer’s datum, sign convention, configuration and CG envelope. Never combine arms measured from different reference points. If a chart uses a moment index, such as moment divided by 100, keep that scale consistent through the calculation.
Separate stability, control and aircraft type
Stability describes the tendency to recover after a disturbance. Controllability describes the ability to respond to control inputs. They are related, but a configuration that feels resistant to pitching is not automatically easier to control through every maneuver.
For a conventional airplane, excessive forward CG can make raising the nose difficult; an excessively aft CG reduces longitudinal stability and can worsen stall recovery. The FAA Weight and Balance chapter explains these different consequences. “Both directions make it equally unstable” misses the distinction.
A multirotor does not use a conventional airplane’s elevator or landing flare. Apply the common principle that weight distribution must remain within its limits, then use the actual aircraft’s instructions for the consequences and permissible loading. Do not transfer a fixed-wing CG limit or stall-speed number to a quadcopter.
Read the level-turn condition before using load factor
Load factor is the ratio of lift to weight. For the conventional steady, coordinated, level-turn model, banking tilts lift, so total lift must increase to preserve its upward component. The relation is load factor = 1 ÷ cos(bank angle), which gives the 2 G result at 60 degrees described in the FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook, chapter 10.
Worked question: A fictional 12 lb fixed-wing aircraft makes a coordinated level turn at 60 degrees of bank. What load factor and lift are required?
Load factor = 1 ÷ cos(60°) = 2. Required lift = 2 × 12 = 24 pounds-force.
The aircraft’s mass has not doubled. The required aerodynamic force has increased. A 60-degree bank alone is insufficient to establish this result: the steady, coordinated, level-flight conditions matter. Nor does calculating the required force prove that a particular aircraft can safely produce it.
The Airplane Flying Handbook also explains that stall speed increases with the square root of load factor. If this fictional airplane stalls at 20 knots at 1 G in the same configuration, its 2 G stall speed, using the same airspeed reference, is:
Stall speed = 20 × √2 ≈ 28.3 knots.
The trap is multiplying stall speed directly by 2 and answering 40 knots. An aerodynamic stall concerns excessive angle of attack, not an engine stopping. These airplane examples explain the tested relationship; they are not instructions to fly steep turns with a drone.
Use density altitude to interpret performance data
High density altitude means less-dense air. It is a performance description, not the aircraft’s height above the ground. Hotter air and lower pressure reduce density; increased humidity also reduces density when temperature and pressure are held constant. The Remote Pilot Study Guide’s weather chapter explains these relationships.
Consider the same loaded aircraft at the same site on a hotter afternoon. Do not assume the morning’s performance still applies. Greater weight increases what the aircraft must support, while lower air density makes producing aerodynamic force more demanding. For an electric multirotor, the propeller still works in that less-dense air; the absence of an air-breathing engine does not eliminate the aerodynamic effect. This follows from the same air-density principle, rather than establishing a model-specific power or endurance loss.
You can often identify the unfavorable direction without calculating an exact loss. To say how many kilograms of payload or minutes of flight remain, you need data for the aircraft and conditions. For weather-report interpretation and a density-altitude estimate, continue with the worked Part 107 weather questions.
Worked performance-table question
Suppose a fictional training problem provides this payload table for one configuration at a fixed pressure altitude of 4,000 ft, and expressly permits straight-line interpolation between the two temperatures.
| Temperature | Maximum payload in this exercise |
|---|---|
| 20°C | 2.0 kg |
| 30°C | 1.4 kg |
Source basis: original teaching table illustrating the ACS requirement to use performance data. These are not manufacturer limits or a universal temperature correction.
At 25°C, the temperature is halfway between the rows. Half the 0.6 kg reduction is 0.3 kg, giving 2.0 − 0.3 = 1.7 kg. A proposed 1.8 kg payload exceeds the exercise’s limit by 0.1 kg.
This answers the table question only. It does not independently clear total weight, CG, attachment strength or flight duration. If a real manual does not allow interpolation, follow its stated procedure. Never extend this invented 0.06 kg-per-degree slope to another aircraft or beyond the given range.
Explain the answer, then change one input
After each practice question, write one sentence naming the controlling condition and one explaining why the nearest wrong answer fails. Then change a single input: add a mount, move the payload, remove the level-turn condition, or raise the temperature. Rework the answer instead of memorizing its letter. The practice-question review method shows how to organize that work across topics.
Before an actual flight, return to the aircraft’s loading and performance instructions. Section 107.49 requires sufficient available power for the intended operating time and secure carried objects that do not adversely affect flight characteristics or controllability. A correct calculation helps establish one part of that decision. Finish by checking that the planned configuration and conditions satisfy all the relevant limits together.
Sources
- FAA Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards, FAA-S-ACS-10B: official knowledge standards; Area IV defines the loading and performance task.
- FAA Remote Pilot Study Guide, FAA-G-8082-22: instructional reference, August 2016; chapters 3b and 4 explain density altitude, loading and load factors.
- FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, chapter 10: instructional reference for moments, CG calculations, balance and control effects.
- FAA Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3C, chapter 10: instructional reference for bank angle, load factor and the square-root relationship for stall speed.
- FAA AC 107-2A, Small Unmanned Aircraft System: active FAA guidance summarizing Part 107; paragraphs 4.2.8 and 5.11 explain the weight definition and preflight duties. The circular explains existing requirements and does not itself create regulations.
Last checked: September 10, 2026.