Use a Part 107 practice test to find what you cannot yet explain. Answer without looking at the solution, mark guesses even when they score correctly, trace each weak answer to the FAA reference, and try a changed version later. A higher score on a familiar question bank is useful only if you can still solve the problem when the wording, numbers, or chart changes.
The method below is for learners preparing for the initial U.S. Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG) knowledge test. Existing remote pilots maintaining knowledge recency use a different FAA training path; check the FAA certification and recurrent-training instructions before choosing your study materials.
On This Page
- Start with the right FAA materials
- Turn each practice session into a repair cycle
- Three worked examples
- Use ACS codes to check what your score hides
- Decide when another mock exam will help
Start with the right FAA materials
The FAA testing matrix lists 60 questions, two hours, and a 70% passing score for UAG. For a 60-question practice set, 42 correct equals 70%. Treat that as the passing threshold, not a sensible target for how much of the subject to understand.
Keep these references available during answer review:
| Resource | How to use it | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| FAA UAG sample questions | Learn the question style and follow the associated topic codes | The exact questions you will receive |
| Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards, FAA-S-ACS-10B | Check coverage and identify the knowledge element behind a mistake | A personal prediction of passing |
| FAA Remote Pilot Study Guide | Relearn explanations, especially weather and aircraft performance | That every regulatory passage in an older guide is current |
| Current Part 107 regulation | Resolve the wording and conditions of an operating rule | Whether a particular question bank is accurate |
Source basis: FAA sample-question introduction, certification standards, study guide, and 14 CFR Part 107. The suggested uses are study recommendations.
The FAA sample PDF links both the testing supplement used for its figure-based questions and the testing provider's practice-test entry point. Open the specified figure when a question calls for it. Guessing from an airport name or an answer list does not practice reading the figure.
There is also a date-sensitive change to prepare for. The August 2026 FAA testing advisory says UAG already includes embedded images and, beginning October 26, 2026, will include image-based questions using images absent from the test supplements. The FAA has not set a date for removing printed supplements from testing centers. Practice interpreting unfamiliar images; do not depend on memorizing the location of an answer in a familiar chart crop.
When evaluating another practice bank, inspect a few explanations before committing your study time. Look for a specific FAA reference, the condition that makes the correct answer correct, readable figures, and a way to review weak topics. A current year in the title is insufficient. Avoid material claiming to reveal confidential live exam questions. The FAA describes its own public samples as study material, not necessarily actual test questions.
Turn each practice session into a repair cycle
Separate learning sessions from exam simulations. During a learning session, work on a small enough set that you can review every uncertain answer. During a simulation, save feedback until the end so that the score reflects what you knew before the explanations helped you.
- Answer and record confidence. Label each response “explained,” “uncertain,” or “guessed.” Use “explained” only when you can give the reason without seeing the key.
- Review misses and lucky answers. A correct guess stays on the review list. Identify whether the problem was missing knowledge, a misread condition, units, a figure, or rushed arithmetic.
- Find the governing concept. Follow the explanation to the actual FAA section. Read enough surrounding text to catch exceptions. If the bank and current source disagree, set that item aside until you can resolve the conflict.
- Write a short explanation in your own words. State why your choice works and why the alternatives fail. Copying the answer key does not demonstrate that you can reconstruct the reasoning.
- Change one variable and return later. Use a different altitude, a different airspace condition, or a new figure. Try it without the explanation beside you. Revisit it in a later session, then include it in a mixed set.
This is a practical study routine, not an FAA-prescribed schedule or a promise of a particular score. Adjust the size of the set to the review time you actually have. Ten carefully reviewed questions can be a more useful next session than another full mock exam whose errors you never investigate.
A mistake log that tells you what to do next
Use one row per misunderstood concept. The entries below are illustrative, not learner test results.
| What happened | Diagnosis | Next practice task | Evidence of improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selected an altitude without checking its reference | Confused height above terrain with elevation above sea level | Label the reference before doing the arithmetic | Solve a changed elevation without answer choices |
| Picked an airspace answer from the airport name | Skipped the figure and operating location | Locate the specified point and read the airspace information | Explain which detail controls the answer |
| Guessed a weather answer correctly | Recognized a phrase without understanding it | Explain the physical cause, then reverse the conditions | Predict the direction of the change |
| Missed “except” in the question | Read too quickly | Restate what the question asks before choosing | Reject an otherwise true but irrelevant answer |
Keep the log brief enough to use. Record the source section and your next task, not a transcript of the lesson. Group repeated errors so that five missed questions about the same concept produce one focused review task.
Three worked examples: explain, then change the question
These are original teaching scenarios, not FAA exam questions. Answer each before reading its explanation. They demonstrate the review method and are not a complete mock test.
1. Separate AGL from MSL
Assume level terrain at 850 feet mean sea level (MSL) and a drone 250 feet above ground level (AGL). What is the drone's elevation?
- A. 250 feet MSL
- B. 600 feet MSL
- C. 1,100 feet MSL
The answer is C: 850 + 250 = 1,100 feet MSL. A uses height as elevation; B subtracts upward height. The numbers are hypothetical. Now change terrain elevation to 1,200 feet while keeping height at 250 feet AGL: the result is 1,450 feet MSL.
For regulatory context, § 107.51 uses a 400-foot AGL ceiling, subject to its structure exception. Do not compare an MSL number directly with that AGL limit. This exercise addresses the vertical reference only, not overall flight permission.
2. Identify the condition that triggers authorization
A proposed Part 107 flight is inside Class C airspace at 100 feet AGL. Is flying below 400 feet enough to proceed without ATC authorization?
The answer is no. § 107.41 requires prior ATC authorization for operation in Class C. The low altitude does not remove that requirement.
The important words are “inside Class C.” Change the height to 300 feet AGL while keeping the flight inside Class C: authorization is still required. On your next figure-based question, establish the airspace at the aircraft's location and altitude before deciding. Record a location-reading error separately from forgetting the authorization rule.
3. Explain density altitude without inventing a performance number
At the same site, air temperature rises while pressure and moisture conditions remain unchanged. What happens to air density and density altitude?
- A. Air becomes denser; density altitude decreases
- B. Air becomes less dense; density altitude increases
- C. Neither changes because the site elevation is unchanged
The answer is B. Density altitude describes air density in terms of an equivalent altitude in the standard atmosphere. Higher temperature at constant pressure reduces density. An unchanged map elevation therefore does not mean unchanged aerodynamic conditions. The FAA study guide, Chapter 3b, explains this relationship and its performance consequences.
Choice A reverses the relationship; C confuses physical elevation with atmospheric conditions. Reverse the exercise: at constant pressure, cooler air is denser and density altitude decreases. Do not convert this directional answer into an invented percentage loss of payload or flight time. Aircraft-specific performance requires the applicable aircraft data and conditions.
Use ACS codes to check what your score hides
An Airman Certification Standards (ACS) code identifies a knowledge element. In the Remote Pilot ACS, UA.II.A.K1b identifies Class C controlled airspace; UA.III.B.K1a identifies density altitude. Use a supplied code to locate the topic, then study the underlying reference. If a practice bank supplies no code, record the topic and source section yourself without inventing a code.
Check breadth as well as weak areas. The ACS test blueprint covers regulations, airspace and requirements, weather, loading and performance, and operations. Do not let repeated regulation questions crowd out weather interpretation, aircraft performance, or operational decision-making.
A total percentage can conceal a repeated failure in one area. Keep an overall score, but also ask: which concepts still require guesses, which figures take too long, and which explanations collapse when a condition changes? Use those answers to choose the next lesson rather than simply restarting the same test.
Decide when another mock exam will help
Once you have repaired the known weak topics, attempt an unfamiliar mixed set under the FAA's two-hour UAG time allowance. For 60 questions, that averages two minutes per question; it is a pacing reference, not a requirement to spend equally on every item. Keep a separate note of questions that consumed disproportionate time.
Before treating a practice result as encouraging, check that you can:
- Explain uncertain answers after review and solve a changed version later.
- Work with figures you have not memorized.
- Complete a mixed set covering all five knowledge areas.
- Finish within the time allowance with room to revisit flagged questions.
Repeated strong results on unfamiliar material are a better basis for a study decision than one high score on a memorized bank. No practice percentage guarantees the FAA result. If you are already recognizing answers, switch to new problems or explanation-only practice instead of counting the repeated score as new evidence.
Passing the knowledge test is also distinct from receiving the Remote Pilot Certificate: the FAA application process still follows. Practical aircraft preparation and safe flight decisions require attention beyond answering multiple-choice questions.
For your next session, choose one weak topic from the log, relearn its FAA reference, and solve a changed problem without help. Then test it again among unrelated questions. That gives each practice test a concrete purpose: identifying the next thing to understand and checking whether you now understand it.
Sources
- FAA: Become a Certificated Remote Pilot. Official initial certification, application, and recurrent-training pathways.
- FAA: Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix. Official UAG question count, time allowance, and passing score.
- FAA: UAG Sample Questions. Public study questions, ACS-code explanation, and links to the testing supplement and provider practice test; dated August 10, 2021.
- FAA: Remote Pilot Airman Certification Standards, FAA-S-ACS-10B. Knowledge elements and exam blueprint, effective April 6, 2021.
- FAA: Remote Pilot Study Guide. Aeronautical explanations, including density altitude in Chapter 3b; dated August 2016. Use current regulations for operating rules.
- 14 CFR Part 107. Current regulatory text; §§ 107.41 and 107.51 support the authorization and altitude distinctions.
- FAA: August 2026 Airman Testing Community Advisory. Embedded-image guidance, the October 26 UAG update, and printed-supplement transition status.
Last checked: September 6, 2026.