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 video we'll be discussing in detail weather cloud formations wind conditions various stages of thunderstorms stable air unstable air and forecasting weather everything you need to know so let's Jump Right In the FAA part 107 remote pilot study guide starts now there are more questions about weather than any other topic on the part 107 exam and why is that well that's because weather is a critical factor in Aviation safety especially for drone Pilots the FAA requires that drone Pilots are knowledgeable about weather conditions and that they understand how these weather conditions may impact their flight operations and what you also need to know are the rules and regulations so here's a question for you that you should already know what is the minimum distance both vertically and horizontally from any cloud formation and if you need to think about that answer then you need to go back and look at the tutorial video number one and the correct answer is 500 ft below any cloud formation and 2,000 ft horizontally from any cloud formation and if there's any question on the exam that asks you who's responsible for knowing this information well you can raise your hand and say I am because yes you are the remote pilot in command so what is wether believe it or not this is a test question on the part 107 exam but it's phrased differently and before I give you the exact question and answer let me explain something to you right now our sun will heat the Earth's surface unevenly and that's because there are terrains mountains bodies of water cloud cover and as the surface heats the warm air will rise and create upward currents of air these are called updrafts now as the warm air Rising begins to cool because of low pressure high altitude the moisture in the air condenses into water droplets thus forming clouds now I had to articulate that for you so you'll understand EX exactly what the test question actually means so here's the question what is the primary cause of all changes in the Earth's weather if you saw this question before I actually explained it to you you'd never get the answer and it's still a tough question as you can see with the multiple choice answers but it won't be too difficult for you because you already know that this has to do with a variation of solar heating received on the Earth's surface now Commit This to your memory warm air will rise as cool air will descend and the the heat that rises from the uneven surface of the Earth will create what's called thermals and for those of you who want to know what thermals are well thermals are upward currents of warm air that form as a result of uneven heating from the Earth's surface these thermals are the primary cause of what's called turbulence and I know that all of you at one point have flown on an airplane where you have experienced the bumping and the shaking well that is because of turbulence but don't think it's so bad because sometimes Pilots take advantage of the warm air rising to gain altitude gliders hot air balloons and even Birds you need to know and understand this information if you are a remote pilot especially if you're flying a drone now here's a part 107 exam question for you to answer what condition would most likely cause turbulence would it be a stable Air B smooth consistent winds or C uneven heating of the Earth's surface well you should already know that answer because I just gave it to you and can you see how ridiculously wrong the other two answer choices are well expect that on the exam also now what other natural phenomenon do you think would affect the performance of an aircraft or a drone well you just guessed it wind is what you're going to be fighting against to maintain altitude and position not to mention how wind can suck the life out of your battery when flying and also there's wind share something that's sudden unpredictable and potentially dangerous and what actually is wind share well let me explain wind share is a sudden drastic change in wind speed or Direction over a small area this sudden violent change in wind is dangerous to any aircraft including a drone and a windsh share can occur with upward drafts or downward drafts at any time now listen I witnessed an airplane coming in for a landing and a sudden downward microburst caused a plane to crash before it even got to the runway this is why the FAA wants you to know this information and here's something else you need to know for the exam question at what altitude can wind share occur now I want you to look at the multiple choice questions and choose the correct one and while you're doing that don't forget to hit that subscribe button because I've got more tutorials coming for you in the near future now going back to the question if you answered C at any altitude then you are correct but I want you to keep this in mind at lower Al altitudes closer to the ground wind share becomes much more hazardous and you now understand why now flying your drone in windy conditions could become problematic for several reasons as outlined in FAA part 107 study materials here are some of the potential concerns number one you could lose control because strong winds can push a drone off course making it difficult to maintain stability or perform precise Maneuvers number two battery life reduction the drone's motors must work work much harder to counteract the wind draining the battery much faster than it would in calm weather conditions number three return to home issues if the Drone is flying with the wind and gets too far away it may be difficult for it to fly back against the wind potentially leading to a crash or even a FlyAway I don't think you'd be too happy after you paid all of that money for that expensive drone and number four sudden altitude changes can occur if you have high winds or wind share as a pilot in command it's important for you to understand what factors will contribute to you not having full control of your aircraft now let's recap and clarify why it is that winds happen globally you see global winds are caused by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface you already know that and the uneven heating of the sun's radiation is due to the differences in land and sea elevations and also the clouds that block the heat from the Sun in various areas on the Earth's surface warm air Rising creates low pressure while cooler air creates high pressure and as the air moves from high to low that generates wind now here's a part 107 question for you what causes global winds to form could it be a the rotation of the Earth's surface and differences in air pressure or B the movement of the ocean's currents affecting atmospheric conditions or C the gravitational pull of the moon on the Earth's atmosphere now if you selected a then you are correct now let's talk about clouds and the various types of cloud formations and a good question to ask is what are cloud formations and how many types of cloud formations are there now anyone who's taken the part 107 exam will tell you that you need to know the answers to these questions so at the end of this section you're going to understand Cloud classifications and how they impact drone operations so let's start by talking about all of the cloud classification by altitude now from the surface to 6,500 ft AGL you'll find lowlevel clouds and the first low-level cloud formation we'll discuss is stratus clouds now stratus clouds are a grayish low-level Cloud that appear like a thick flat layer covering the sky they form at lower altitudes below 6,500 ft AGL sometimes they look like fog that are up higher in altitude now it's very important that you remember what I'm about to say stratus cloud generally will bring light rain drizzle or mist and they can also cause reduced visibility but the key thing to remember here is that stratus clouds are often linked to stable weather systems but persistent stratus clouds can also be a signal of poor weather now in regard to how this type of cloud formation affects drone operations well you'll find that visibility will be reduced just enough to make it difficult to maintain visual line of sight or V also you may have issues with ceiling restrictions since these clouds are at low altitudes pilots and remote Pilots should avoid flying in dense Stratus layers due to poor visibility and difficulty in navigation now here's a part 107 question that may be a little tricky which one of the following cloud types is most likely to indicate stable air and poor visibility now think what cloud formation did we just discuss and what were the characteristics of that cloud formation well if you selected C Stratus then you are correct and later we'll be discussing the differences between stable air and unstable air now let's move to the next type of cloud formation at low level and these types of clouds are called cumulus clouds and it is very important that you recognize this type of cloud formation because it will be on the part 107 exam so start taking notes cumulus clouds are puffy white well-defined clouds often seen in fair weather they have a distinctive flat base with a towering dome-shaped top and they often resemble cauliflower or large cotton balls but what is so important to remember is that these cloud formations can develop into larger storm systems like cumulon nimbus clouds and I promise you we'll be discussing cumulon nimbus clouds in detail in just a few minutes as I mentioned cumulus clouds are white puffy fluffy clouds and they will typically form at 1,000 ft to 6,000 ft AGL but they can grow much taller especially if they are developing into a cumulon nimbus cloud now cumulus clouds themselves are relatively harmless and they are an indication of fair weather however if they grow large enough they can develop into ACC cumulon nimbus clouds which means that they will be bringing thunderstorms heavy rain and turbulence and I know that you all remember these terms because I just went over that few minutes ago in this video now looking into how cumulus clouds affect drone operations well specifically small cumulus clouds generally don't pose any threat to drone flights Pilots should be cautioned that they can start developing into a vertical growth now in regard to any ceiling restrictions the base of these clouds are usually high enough to allow for safe drone operations but if a cumulus cloud is part of a developing storm then you better believe there's going to be thunderstorms and turbulence to so let's recap and review some key differences between Stratus and cumulus clouds stratus clouds thick gray uniform with no distinct shape cumulus clouds puffy white well-defined flat base with a rounded top altitude a stratus cloud will be from 6,500 ft AGL and Below cumulus clouds 1,000 ft AGL up to 6,000 ft AGL but can develop into higher altitudes especially in warm weather conditions stratus clouds will bring light precipitation mist and reduced visibility cumulus clouds will bring fair weather but may develop into thunderstorms if they begin to start growing vertically and since we're on the topic of thunderstorms let's talk about a part 107 exam question and this has to do with the three stages of a thunderstorm and you will see this on the exam now notice on the left do you see that what used to be a cumulus cloud is now gain altitude because of warm air Rising well this is the first stage and the first stage is called the cumulus stage so let me explain to you exactly what's Happening Here you see warm moist air is rising rapidly and this is due to the solar heating of the Earth's surface and as the rising warm air begins to cool water vapor condenses inside of the cumulus clouds and this is what causes it to start building upwards now observe closely there is no precipitation there is no rain at this point and that is because all of the moisture remains suspended it's being held inside of the updraft also pay attention to this there's no lightning there's no Thunder at this stage and that is because the conditions needed to have a strong electrical charge do not exist yet and on a quick note rarely will you see lightning at the cumulus stage all of these details explained thoroughly is what you need to pass the part 107 exam and and if you're getting value from this video go ahead hit the Subscribe button the next stage after the cumula stage undoubtedly is the most dangerous stage stage number two is the mature stage of a thunderstorm and it begins when the storm reaches its full development producing heavy rains strong winds lightning and sometimes hail or tornadoes let's go over the details on this stage the key characteristics of the mature stage will be the updrafts and downdrafts now notice you still have warm air Rising continuing to not only build but to fuel the storm and now you can see the presence of downdrafts which is descending cooler air and this cool air That's Falling Down is also bringing something else with it the precipitation and the moisture that was being suspended and held there for so long and to make this condition even worse the interaction between the updrafts and downdrafts the warm air and the cool air is what makes this stage so violent turbulent and unpredictable the Storm at this stage is fully developed with heavy rain lightning thunder and intense downdrafts called microbursts and now do you see why I'm going into detail with you that's because I want you to fully understand it is not enough to Simply know the answer this needs to be explained the mature stage of a thunderstorm will have water droplets that will grow large and fall as heavy rain and sometimes you'll see hailstones and that's because the warm air that's Rising has enough Force to keep pushing the ice particles that are falling upwards allowing them to grow bigger now pay attention to the diagram and look at the downward drafts in regard to their direction do you notice that the blue arrows are spreading out towards the ground and you probably wouldn't even have noticed if I didn't mention that as the air cools the down drafts will accelerate and spreading them outwards towards the ground and this is what causes the strong winds and wind gusts and for me to put the cherry on top of the whipped cream lightning and thunder will begin to intensify due to collisions between the ice hail and the super cooled water inside of the cloud negative charges will collect at the base of the cloud while positive charges will build up at the top of the cloud when this happens lightning occurs and the Thunder is simply just a shock wave caused by the rapid expansion of air that is heated by lightning now that you understand the mature stage so well let's go into the final stage which is the dissipating stage and the key question here is why is it dissipating well let me explain at this point the storm is losing its energy source and where was the energy coming from well do you remember warm air Rising that was fueling the cumulus cloud before it actually developed into the mature stage well you remember those cool down drafts that were spreading out all over the ground well what was the result eventually hm now you got it the warm upward drafts eventually were weakened and disappeared that was the source that was fueling the storm and now that the warm moist air has been cut off and the cloud begins to lose its moisture the precipitation and rain will stop the clouds will begin to evaporate the winds will begin to calm down and there will be a cooling effect on the atmosphere now as so eloquently explain the three stages of thunderstorms to you there's no way that you'll be able to get anything other than a 100 score on this question so here are some part 107 questions that I know you'll be able to answer correctly first question what are the three stages of thunderstorms in correct order you can pause the video here to write down your answer and then we'll move to the next question have you ever wondered why it is that your drone performs differently on a hot day compared to a cool morning well there is something on the part 107 exam that has to do with the question I just asked you and that something is called density altitude and if you're preparing for the FAA part 107 exam well this is something that you must know about and I'm going to break it down so that way it's easy for you to understand now density altitude and air density are completely different concepts but they are related so let's talk about air density first air density is simply how much air can be packed into one given space higher density means more air molecules and lower density means fewer air molecules and what I'm actually explaining to you is that in different parts of the atmosphere the air density is different this is very important because air density affects a drone's lift the efficiency of the propellers and battery performance so let me ask you a hypothetical question if you were in a sealed room with a drone and had all of the air sucked out would you be able to make the Drone fly and I can tell a lot of you just started scratching your heads well I'm not going to tell you what the answer is until I am finished explaining air density there are three major factors that change air density temperature altitude and humidity with temperature warm air is less dense and that means that your drone will need to work harder with altitude that means that the air is thinner so it reduces propeller efficiency hum humidity or moist air is less dense because water Vapors replace heavier oxygen and nitrogen molecules so if you're flying a drone in hot humid high altitude conditions well you can expect your drone to have reduced or limited performance the best weather condition when you're flying your drone will be cool dry air at low altitude so going back to the question with you being in a sealed room a drone would not be able to fly because a sealed room with no air is considered a vacuum drones rely on air density for lift and their propellers work by pushing the air downwards creating an equal and opposite Force this is Newton's third law now specifically what you will see on the part 107 exam is what's called density altitude and the concept of density altitude is that the altitude is which the air feels like a certain density level it's based on a pressure altitude adjusted for temperature and humidity and even if you were at sea level high temperature and humidity can make the air behave as if it's at higher altitude and very important to remember for the part 107 exam density altitude is not a Target altitude it's simply a way of describing how the air feels so this is what you're going to have to pay attention to for the part 107 exam if the density altitude is low then the air is thick and your drone will fly efficiently now did you hear what I just said and were you paying attention and understand that what I just said to you is the exact opposite of air density and to continue this if the density altitude is high then the air is thin and the Drone struggles to generate lift and I just opened up a can of worms because that's the complete opposite of air density for the part 107 exam what you need to know is that your drone will perform better at low density altitude conditions such as cool air dry air low altitude so I needed to break this down so you have a clear understanding of the difference between air density and density altitude again density altitude is simply a way of measuring how much air will affect your drone's performance lower is better now here's the part 107 exam question how does the increase in density altitude affect a drone's performance is it a it improves lift and reduces power consumption B it has no effect on Drone operations or C it reduces lift decreases propeller efficiency increases battery consumption well if you selected C then you are correct and I hope these detailed explanations are helpful for you to understand and not just know the answer now let's talk about stable air and unstable air stable air is like what you feel when you're standing over a peaceful Lake it's calm it's smooth and it's predictable it happens when the atmosphere resists and any vertical movement keeping weather steady and Mild now what you will notice is that your drone will have a very smooth flight and the next thing I'm going to tell you will be on the part 107 exam you will also notice reduced visibility due to Haze or fog now do you remember that when I mentioned status clouds that it usually was accompanied by mist and poor visibility but that the weather conditions were stable is this now beginning to make sense that reduced visibility means stable conditions now on the the flip side let's talk about unstable air pay attention look closely do you see that the grass is moving from side to side making you feel uneasy and despite the fact that those clouds are overhead that you can see the Horizon clearly what are these conditions telling you unlike the peaceful Lake unstable air is like a boiling pot of hot water it has air currents that can rise and fall do you remember that we talked about that there's turbulence and unpredictable conditions all signs of unstable air now here is the craziest thing what you will notice is that your drone will have a bumpy turbulent flight you'll see cumulus clouds thunderstorms strong winds but what is so contradictory is that you will have good visibility it's absolutely fascinating that unstable air will allow you to see better what I'm giving you now is the answer to a part 107 question which of the following are characteristics of unstable air is it a smooth air poor visibility and stable precipitation B turbulence good visibility and showery precipitation C calm winds clear skies and layered formations now if you get this one wrong on the part 107 exam you're going to have to buy me lunch but it might be better if you just hit that like And subscribe button now I want you to remember this on the part 107 exam it will ask you what are the conditions of stable air and unstable air and you should remember that stable air came with poor visibility and unstable air had good visibility if you just remember that that will give you a clue on how to answer the questions appropriately now here's an excellent question that just came to mind what does this mean for drone pilots and which air is better for drone flying well right now let's use our common sense as a reference stable air is safer for smooth flights but you need to watch for fog and also you must have three statured miles of visibility before takeoff unstable air we can expect turbulence and strong winds or even thunderstorms but here's the thing the FAA part 107 rules and regulations do not explicitly state that you cannot fly a drone when thunderstorms are present however Common Sense will tell you that based on visibility Cloud clearance and safety rules that flying a drone near a thunderstorm would most likely violate some FAA regulation making it unsafe and potentially illegal so do yourself a favor check the weather reports check the FAA advisory circulars and make sure that you have the correct conditions to fly safely now let's move to two other topics in regard to weather that are very important for the part 107 exam and that is fog and dupoint I'm going to explain both of these in detail and tell you exactly why this is so important for drone Pilots let's talk about dupoint first what exactly is dupoint well dupoint is the temperature at which air a becomes fully saturated with moisture when air cools down to its due Point water Vapors turn into tiny droplets forming fog do or even clouds do you remember we spoke about this in the beginning of the video warm air moisture and the cooling of this air convection this is what we're talking about when we speak of weather haven't you ever noticed that in the morning outside that the grass is moist or full of dew wet yes you have noticed it but you just never knew what caused it so here's the science behind it remember we talked about solar heating in the beginning of the video well at night the ground loses heat and during this time as the ground cools it lowers the temperature of the air directly above it and this creates a certain amount of water vapor and when the temperature drops to the point where it can no longer hold any more moisture this is when dupoint is established and it forms tiny water droplets on the grass the leaves the cars and all other surfaces that is the D point now did I just break that down like a poet you understand don't you but I'm going to put the cherry on top so you understand even better dupoint forms best on clear calm nights do you want to know why that's because there are no clouds in the sky to trap the Heat this allows the temperature on the ground to drop faster windy cloudy conditions Prevent D from forming because because the air mixes preventing the surface from cooling enough now to elaborate on this there is a difference between Dew and frost do is when the water condenses into a liquid Frost is when the water turns into ice and if I subtly mention fog before I actually get into the details well fog is when the tiny water droplets remain suspended in the air above the surface now there is a more advanced explanation of dupoint that I need to go into for those of you who already know about dupoint you see Pilots understand that in order to determine dupoint you need to calculate two things air temperature and relative humidity and dupoint is actually a formula a calculation of what the temperature needs to be in order for the air to contain maximum moisture so as the air temperature drops closer and closer to the calculated dupoint temperature for example if the air temperature is 27° C and the dupoint temperature is 17° C then that means that the air has not reached dupoint temperature yet so it can still hold moisture that means that there will be no Dew No frost no fog so by me saying this to you what do you think is going to happen when the air temperature reaches the calculated dupoint temperature and yes you are correct above ground fog will develop with these conditions but later on in the video series I'll be discussing the effects of dupoint on lowl clouds and atmospherically also so we've touched briefly on fog now let's get into the details what is fog now don't laugh cuz we're going back to the beginning of the video fog is a cloud but this Cloud forms at ground level you see when the air becomes fully saturated with moisture it causes water vapor to condense into tiny water droplets that remain suspended in the air this is fog it's like a cloud that forms at ground level and fog will significantly reduce visibility which can be dangerous for drone pilots and if you remember on my first video the FAA part 107 requires that you must have at least three statured miles of visibility before drone flights when you're ready to fly fog should be an indication to you that you're not ready to fly fog can drop visibility down to near zero making flight impossible not to mention that flying through the moisture of fog can make the tiny water drops collect in your Motors and your sensors and cause electrical damage use your common sense Also let's go deeper how about high humidity and fog can affect your radio signals or your GPS accuracy these are all things that you must consider when you're a certified remote pilot or if you're simply just flying a drone there is something called a meteorological aerody drone report or Metar this report will give you information on the dupoint and all of the weather conditions we are going to be discussing mea on four of 12 tutorials you better stay tuned because that is a very important video it's another important category for taking the part 107 exam I think I've talked enough on this video about whether I'm going to have on the next video mear reports Taff reports so you'll be able to have a complete detailed breakdown on how to read those reports accurately don't forget to hit like And subscribe to get the notifications on the next video which will be 4 of 12 thanks again foring watching and I'll see you on the next one