How I Passed My FAA Part 107 Exam Without Paying for a Course
I didn’t want to fork over $300 or $500 to take a course in basic aviation principles for my commercial drone operators license, so I decided I would do it on my own. I’m ashamed to admit I researched this topic and came to that conclusion three years ago. I was so intimidated by the thought of studying FAA materials on my own that I just procrastinated on ever committing to an individual course of study. It seemed so mysterious and complex to me.
I’ve always loved the structure of a classroom; the professionalism of a professor/student relationship; the competitive environment of a circle of peers. I’m sure I learn best that way, and that’s why I chose to take in-person classes to complete my masters in criminal justice at John Jay.
But the COVID-19 pandemic forced me to continue my studies there through online courses, and I guess my unexpected success in an online statistics class gave me a sense of confidence in my ability to learn on my own with a blend of textbooks and YouTube videos. That is exactly how I studied for my FAA Part 107 exam, qualifying me to fly sUAS aircraft commercially in the United States. It is a 60-question test and you must receive a 70 percent to pass. That means you can get up to 18 questions wrong without failing. I passed with a 90 percent — so I got six questions wrong.
The best place to start is Tony Northrup’s free certification guide video. Tony is a charming and intelligent fellow who presents a nearly two-hour lecture that provides an overview of everything you need to know for the test. Another great resource is this plainspoken and uplifting fellow named TMAC on youtube who posted this very useful overview video.
Those links gave me a lot of information and encouragement, but that’s not quite enough. To succeed at this exam you really need to feel some sectional charts in your hands and answer a bunch of practice questions. The FAA is an old-fashioned regulatory agency, and their test requires you to read and interpret airspace maps on paper like the Wright brothers intended.
Buy this Test Prep Book to learn what you need to know. The Aviation Supplies & Academics organization publishes it every year and it includes the exact same test supplement you will use when you take your actual exam. It has chapters on regulations, the National Airspace System, weather, loading and performance, and operations — the five subjects you’ll see on the exam.
It presents every piece of information in an easy-to-read format, then provides practice questions similar to those you’ll see on the test after each explanation. I read it cover-to-cover and I took my time, highlighting the important information and really learning the concepts behind aviation theory and practice.
The book takes the complex principles of FAA regulation and breaks them down Barney-style, but there are a number of aviation concepts you can’t just grasp from reading paper pages. So I used Google and YouTube to supplement the book any time something was unclear to me. For instance, I didn’t understand what was so important about a VOR symbol on a sectional chart, so I watched Captain Joe’s explanation of a VOR and came to understand how a VOR is a physical thing that exists at an airport. This made it easier to understand how it helped VFR pilots. I watched many videos like that while I was studying the book so I could grasp the practical applications of aviation concepts it presented.
I began to enjoy the study of sectional charts and take a real interest in the culture of aviation. I would have liked to study at home, but I did most of my studying at hotels that I had to stay at for work. I’d say I spent about 30 hours total studying for the exam. My hotel didn’t have a fridge (that’s New York for ya) so I used gaff tape to mount my deli sandwiches on the outside of the window to keep them fresh. I ate and studied, and maybe had a few more beers than Lily would have appreciated if I’d been at home. I kept the beers cold by stacking them against the window, which could only open ajar.
I was suffering a bit of malnourishment when I took my test, since Lily handles the culinary demands of our household and I am basically a caveman when I’m without her. I popped into a 7–11 and bought a cliff bar to keep my sugar-level high for the test. The exam has to be conducted in person, and there is a proctor watching you on video in the next room to make sure you don’t cheat. I turned my cell phone and smart-watch off and kept them both outside the testing room so nobody could mistake me for a cheater.
The book was by far the most important tool for success on the exam. If you don’t get that ASA book after reading this, you deserve to fail. But I also benefited from a few other tricks up my sleeve. Since the sectional charts you’ll use during your test are printed on paper instead of PDF, you can’t use the inverted pinch technique to expand the text as you might with a phone or tablet. I bought a magnifying glass with a ring light, which made it much easier to read the charts. I also purchased a cheap four-function calculator — mostly used for adding 400 feet to the AGL heights of objects under regulated airspace to determine the highest allowable altitude for drones. If you can add 400 to another number in your head, you really don’t need the calculator, but it feels nice to have it.
As soon as I passed my test and turned my phone back on, I learned from a text message that my brother-in-law, Vince, was going to die. We had all been holding onto hope that he would survive after a recently detected sarcoma had metastasized to his organs. I joined a zoom call on my way to the R train to connect with Vince one last time along with our family and his friends. There was no more hope for survival, the call was to say goodbye. He was able to hear us, but unable to speak. His voice had always been so rich and hearty and it was heartbreaking to think I wouldn’t ever hear it again.
It was especially sad on this day because Vince loved aviation and spent much of his free time photographing aircraft at air shows. We used to break away from the group at family gatherings to nerd out about planes and photography together. I loved him so much, and he died a few hours before this writing. He had a beautiful family and built an honorable life. I will miss him dearly, and I wish so much I could show him my pilot certification and watch his eyes light up at the thought of what lies above the clouds.
