this is the FAA part 107 remote pilot study guide for 2025 after watching this video you'll have the tools and information necessary to successfully pass the FAA part 107 exam you'll be able to use your Drone footage for Real Estate weddings photography commercial content all legally within the United States this is drones Beyond and in this this video we'll discuss in detail all of the information that you'll need to know to pass the part 107 exam you'll have multiple choice questions and answers directly from the FAA exam so let's Jump Right In the FAA part 107 remote pilot study guide 2025 starts now so you're probably asking what exactly are VFR sectional charts well in this video I'm going to give you a detailed breakdown of everything that you need to know so that way you will become an expert and then you'll be able to pass your part 107 exam now I want you to think of sectional charts as sort of like a road map for you to follow it will show you where you can fly the airspace boundaries what altitude you're allowed to fly at class of airspace we went over that in the first tutorial latitude and longitudinal increments where airports are located roads cities populated areas and all of this information to help you with aircraft navigation so to answer the question that I just asked VFR sectional charts are specific aeronautical Maps used by pilots for visual flight rules that's VFR navigation these charts provide visual information on airspace terrain airports and other features necessary for safe navigation when flying by visual reference relative to the ground below now a key feature to think about that's typically not discussed in these type of tutorials is the actual scale of a sectional chart and that is going to be 1 by 500,000 and to put this into layman's terms what that means is that 1 in on a sectional chart will equal 6.86 nautical miles now if you haven't done this already you should download the Airman knowledge testing supplement for a remote pilot the reference number is fa- c-88 d2h I have a link in the video description that will make it easy for you to go get it now typically on the part 107 exam 15 to 25% of the test questions will be on sessional charts so it's very important that you pay attention to everything I have to tell you in detail now let me give you some basic information before we dive in deep sectional charts are available for all areas throughout the United States and they're also available internationally as well but they are interpreted differently in other countries I'll be pointing specifically to exam related questions so here we go let's start with airports now here's a good question how many airports do you actually see on this sectional chart well you should already know that answer from the last tutorial there are seven airport runways that I can visibly see three of which are in class B airspace and what is the designation for class B airspace well you already know solid blue lines indicate that you are in classb airspace now look closely at the Airport runway notice that the color is blue and on VFR sectional charts the airport that is colored blue indicates that the airport has a control tower and provides ATC air traffic control services at this type of airport Pilots are required to establish radio communication with the control tower before entering the airspace now you can see at New York Liberty International that the runway is also in blue but there is something else that needs to be discussed when the symbol of the runway has a blue outline that means that the length of the runway is greater than 8,069 ft also notice that there's a little star symbol at the top of the runway what this means is that the airport has a rotating Beacon and this Beacon helps Pilots to identify the airport at night or in reduced visibility conditions now look closely at the runway outline do you see that little open Dot at the very bottom well I'll bet that you've been studying and you don't even know what that is that little white dot is the location of a v station now the next two questions that you're going to ask is what is a VR station and what exactly is V well this is a VR station and this is a VR station and this is a VR station and it's located exactly where you see that little white dot and on a sectional chart that little white dot is exactly where the station's located at the airport and now that you know that let me explain exactly what VR is and what it does v stands for very high frequency omnidirectional range this station will transmit an omnidirectional signal with its circular array of antennas so that way Pilots will be able to have a navigational aid for asmith and positioning there's also Tactical Air navigation which provides both asouth and distance for more accurate directional information and vortac is another which is compatible with both civilian and military aircraft now looking back at the runway symbol so you don't forget what I just mentioned let's look at another airport that is colored in blue and what's going to be so obvious is that this blue airport is not in class B airspace the magenta lines that are solid indicate that they are in Class C airspace but remember airports that have the color blue indicate that there is a control tower but why does this one look a little different that's because the symbol of the runways are no longer outlined they're inside of the little blue circle now what does this mean pay attention blue airports with the runways inside of the little blue circle indicate that the length of the runway is between 1,500 ft and 8,069 ft and I'm sure you already noticed the Little Star at the very top indicating that there is a revolving Beacon now I'm going to clarify something so your mind stays sharp a blue airport does not indicate that this is Class B airspace as you can see we are in Class C airspace indicated by the solid magenta lines now did you also notice that this airport has little tick marks around the circle well what does that mean it means that you have to subscribe to this channel those tick marks located on the outside of an airport symbol regardless of whether it's a circle or a more detailed Runway layout indicate that the airport provides fueling services and is attended during normal working hours also when tick marks are indicated this also implies that the airport has basic services like ground support or Pilot facilities airport symbols without those tick marks means that the airport does not have fueling services or regular Personnel on site now something that I know you've already noticed but you're probably not aware of is the yellow colors on a sectional chart what do they mean well when you see yellow that means that there are buildings homes cars roads people pets these are populated areas and you need to be aware that most airports are usually in areas where people live so now let's look at Newark Liberty International Airport and the decipher the information on the very top left so you understand it now pay attention to the information at the very top left of the airport no svfr now what could that possibly mean well you'll usually see this with airports that have a high volume of traffic or complex airports such as new Yark Los Angeles or Chicago which are designated in class B airspace and you will also see this on certain airports that are designated in Class C airspace svfr stands for special visual flight rules it refers to a set of clearance procedures that allow aircraft to operate in controlled airspace with less than standard VFR weather requirements what this means is that when weather conditions are marginal during takeoff and Landing that you will not be able to get authorization from Air Traffic Control now remember on the first video that I mentioned that you must have three statute miles of visibility am I right well special VFR allows a pilot to fly when visibility is at least one statured miles now you can already see that for extremely busy airports in a complex situation high traffic that this could be a potential problem now let's take a look at some airports that are colored in magenta now for the exam you'll have to know this magenta airports do not have control tower unlike blue airports which do have a control tower notice that there are tick marks around the airport meaning that there are services such as fueling and also the star at the very top lets you know that there is a rotating Beacon now let's go back to the block of information next to the airport so we can continue to explain notice that the no svfr is at the very top so this must be a busy airport yes it is Dallas Fort Worth International you can see the airport name is indicated at the very top and just to the right of that you'll see the abbreviated letters for the airport this is called the location identifier now just so you know on sectional charts the location identifier or Li for short will typically have a three-letter code now drop down and look for the letters CT and right next to it will be a set of numbers this is the control tower frequency and it's used as a radio frequency so pilots and air traffic controllers can communicate now here's something that's not explained very often do you notice that next to the CT that there are multiple frequencies well this is Dallas Fort Worth International and they have multiple frequencies for the control tower frequencies because of the fact that their airport is extremely large and has complex air traffic operations and what else would you expect in the state of Texas right so you're looking at 124.14 frequency 26.55 frequency 127.5 and frequency 1 34.9 all of those are control tower frequencies now let's jump down to where you see it says a now what does that stand for well I'll tell you automatic terminal information service this is a continuous broadcast of non-control information it's used by pilots at airports now AIS provides essential routine information that helps Pilots prepare for landing takeoff and other operations without the need for disturbing or occupying air traffic control and notice right next to it well there's a frequency for that also now look just below at the number 606 this is the airport elevation indicating 606 ft of above mean sea level and for those of you who do not know what mean sea level means well go check out my first video I explained everything in detail now the next thing that you see is the letter L now this indicates that the airport has lighting facilities available on the runway now what's so cool about this is that if you see a letter L with a star next to it that means that the lights are operating on a part-time basis and the pilots can turn the lights on or off all they need to do is to just click their mic three four or five times and this will allow them to activate or adjust the brightness of the lights that are on the runway how cool is that now the reason why this is so important is because if the airport is not staffed and the lights are off on the runways Pilots will know whether they can activate those lights remotely now looking to the left you see number 134 that will indicate the longest runway at any given airport in this case Dallas Fort Worth International has 134 or if you add two zeros that will be $133,000 400 ft actually Dallas Fort Worth International has the longest runway at 13,41 and lastly just to the right of that you will see a frequency of 22.95 this is the Unicom frequency which is typically on most airports 122.8 now Unicom stands for Universal communication frequency and what this is is an air to ground or pilot-to-pilot communication that does not have any association with air traffic control frequencies the reason why Unicom is used is because Pilots can announce their positions or what Runway they'll be landing on so therefore other pilots who are listening can make adjustments accordingly in regard to their flight plan now let's take a look at another airport so I can ask you some questions to see exactly where you are for what it is that you should already know now looking at the sectional chart can you tell me the name of the airport that you're looking at right now and also what is the control tower frequency well if you said Phoenix Sky Harbor International with a control tower frequency of 118.7 and 12.9 then you are correct now if you look just to the northeast of the airport you will see the letter H inside of a circle this symbol indicates that the location is designated for helicopter operations a heliport now heliports can be part of Hospital Emergency Services private or corporate facilities or public use Transportation let's go to another airport to see what's listed in their information block now do you see at this airport I am at Phoenix Mesa Gateway and at the very bottom in the informational block you'll see it says RP 12r comma 30r Now what does that mean well I'll tell you RP stands for right pattern 12r refers to Runway 12 right and 30r refers to Runway 30 right this notation means that right-hand traffic patterns must be used When approaching or departing Runway 12r and or 30r so here's a question why are right traffic patterns used well most runways follow a left-and traffic pattern by default as specified in the standard Aviation practice however right-and patterns are used when terrain or obstacles require it and when airspace considerations make it safer now we're going to be recognizing symbols on sectional charts and the first one that comes to mind is that little magenta flag now what is that well that is a VFR checkpoint so the next question that's in your brain right now now is what is a VFR checkpoint let me explain imagine you're flying right now and you have no idea of where you're at well lucky for you that there are landmarks either man-made or natural that you'll be able to recognize and also Air Traffic Control will be able to recognize so you can tell them exactly where you are or what you're flying over these type of landmarks are called VFR checkpoints because they have a distinct visual appearance that will Aid in navigation when it is that you need a reference point example of natural VFR checkpoints are mountains rivers coastlines Islands Canyons valleys and then you have checkpoints that have been designated officially on the VFR sectional charts and they have a magenta flag symbol now do you see how easy that was for me to explain let's move to the next symbol now let's look at the little star that's in the airport information block this star means that the control tower is open part-time so you will need to consult with the airport facili directory to determine the hours of operation for the control tower another symbol is the letter c inside of a circle that is called the ca it stands for common traffic advisory frequency the C symbol will always be near a frequency notice that it is next to 11 18.8 you will need to know this for the part 107 exam they will ask you what is the ca frequency the reason why this is so important is because when the control tower is closed Pilots need to know what frequency to use so they can talk to each other and coordinate their positions and intentions now if we pull back a little bit you'll see that this airport has blue dashed lines around it signifying the class of airspace so question what is the class of airspace on this particular airport well if you said class D then you are correct and class D will always start at the surface and the ceiling is indicated by the number 26 so it's 2,600 ft MSL now let's go to Washington Dulles International Airport and you you can already see that there are a lot of symbols here that we need to discuss right well let's start with the one that says minus 20 you're familiar with this but it hasn't been fully explained do you see Manasses Regional just south of Dallas airport has A minus 20 there and right next to it to the right is 100 over 25 you're probably so confused right now aren't you well I'm going to break this down so you understand it what class of airspace is Manasses Regional Airport in think and if you're observant you notice that there's a blue dashed circle around Manasses Regional therefore Manasses Regional is in class D airspace the minus symbol next to the number 20 indicates that it is surface level up to but not including that value so here's the breakdown pilots flying in that airspace will be flying from surface to 2,000 ft in class D airspace now typically class D airspace requires authorization but you do not need clearance if you are flying VFR flights you simply need to establish two-way communic with the class D Tower before entering that airspace now check this out if you're flying above 2,000 ft in that airspace you are now at class B airspace and you will need Class B authorization from Air Traffic Control at Dulles International Airport so now that we're at dullas let's talk about all of these symbols that you're seeing in and around the airport these are called obstructions and regarding Aviation what you need to know is that obstructions are physical structures or natural features that could pose or present A Hazard to aircraft during flight especially at lower altitudes now some examples of man-made obstructions are radio towers cell phone towers skyscrapers tall industrial buildings Bridges and even wind turbines and some examples of natural obstructions could be mountains Hills which exceed safe clearance altitudes or even tall trees now looking back at the sectional chart let's discuss some details in regard to these obstacles now do you see see at the very top to the east of dullas that there is a symbol of an obstacle that looks like a letter M well that's very clever because that symbol means that there are multiple obstacles in a concentrated area the symbol at the very bottom represents that there is only one single obstacle now pay attention to the numbers closest to the obstacle this is the height information each obstacle symbol is typically accompanied by two numbers the top number which represents the height of the obstacle in MSL or mean sea level the bottom number represents the height of the obstacle in AGL above ground level so just so we're clear and there's no misunderstanding we're talking about 878 ft MSL and 480 ft AGL you got that good now lastly do you see the multiple obstacles that do not have the bottom AGL number well that's because for Pilots there is no significant reason to have AGL when MSL will be sufficient for navig navigation now one more thing I need to mention do you see that UC symbol that I'm pointing to right now well UC stands for Uncharted it indicates that the obstruction is not specifically represented on any official charts it could mean that the obstruction is either too new or maybe it's a temporary structure UC is actually a cautionary indication for Pilots so I'll give you this example imagine you're flying over a construction zone and you notice that there is no obstacle listed on the sectional chart now that would be catastrophic if you accidentally flew into a tower or a crane and it had not yet been updated on a sectional chart and you had no prior knowledge that the crane even existed stay tuned for part three of 12 next week and we'll be discussing weather and metor reports see you then