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Part 107 practice questions: Weather

Weather is about 5 percent of the Part 107 test. Five questions on decoding METARs and on how weather affects a small drone. Each question below is from VLOSready's bank: checked against its FAA source, reviewed a second time, and solved blind against the answer key.

Updated . Checked against the sources linked on this page.

  1. 1. "+TSRA" in a METAR means:

    1. Heavy thunderstorm with rain
    2. Light thunderstorm with rain
    3. Thunderstorm in the vicinity
    Show the answer

    A. Heavy thunderstorm with rain

    A plus sign is heavy intensity, TS is thunderstorm and RA is rain; VC would mean in the vicinity.

    Source: AIM 7-1-28 — Key to aerodrome forecast (TAF) and aviation routine weather report (METAR)

  2. 2. In the same METAR, "BKN040" means:

    1. Broken clouds at 4,000 feet AGL
    2. A broken layer at 400 feet AGL
    3. Broken clouds at 40,000 feet MSL
    Show the answer

    A. Broken clouds at 4,000 feet AGL

    Sky condition groups give coverage and then the base height in hundreds of feet above ground, so BKN followed by the height figure is a broken layer at that height AGL.

    Source: AIM 7-1-28 — Key to aerodrome forecast (TAF) and aviation routine weather report (METAR)

  3. 3. High density altitude affects a small unmanned aircraft by:

    1. Less thrust, so more power to hover
    2. More lift, from the thinner air's lower drag
    3. No effect on an electric aircraft
    Show the answer

    A. Less thrust, so more power to hover

    Density altitude is pressure altitude corrected for temperature; hot, high or humid air is thinner, so rotors produce less thrust and motors work harder for the same performance.

    Source: PHAK Chapter 11 — Aircraft performance

  4. 4. The three stages of a thunderstorm, in order, are:

    1. Cumulus, mature, dissipating
    2. Mature, cumulus, dissipating
    3. Building, peak, decay
    Show the answer

    A. Cumulus, mature, dissipating

    A thunderstorm cell builds through the cumulus stage on updrafts, reaches the mature stage when precipitation and downdrafts begin, and dissipates as downdrafts dominate.

    Source: PHAK Chapter 12 — Weather theory

  5. 5. In the METAR "KVNY 221651Z 00000KT 1/2SM FG VV002 14/14 A3001", the visibility and sky are:

    1. Half a mile in fog, sky obscured at 200 feet
    2. Half a mile in haze, with clear skies above
    3. Two miles in fog, with an overcast at 2,000 feet
    Show the answer

    A. Half a mile in fog, sky obscured at 200 feet

    Visibility is given in statute miles, fractions below one mile; FG is fog; VV followed by a height is vertical visibility into an indefinite ceiling, in hundreds of feet.

    Source: AIM 7-1-28 — Key to aerodrome forecast (TAF) and aviation routine weather report (METAR)

These are 5 of the practice questions in VLOSready. The full course draws practice exams at the test's real weighting and scores them by content area.

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