Unmanned Aircraft General · Small (UAG)

Study Guide

The knowledge test is less about flying than about vocabulary, chart notation, and a handful of formulas. Work through this page top to bottom, pass each module check, then take the timed practice exam.

Module-check results and exam scores are saved on this device only. Switch to the Exam tab any time; a test in progress keeps running.

Memorize these first

The numbers

Roughly a quarter of the test is a number you either know or don't. These are the ones that recur.

Vocabulary

Decoder ring

Every acronym and term the test assumes you know. Type to filter.

Sectional chart notation

Chart marks

The test shows you a chart excerpt and asks what a string of numbers means. Learn the grammar and the figures stop being noise.

Not to scale. At 400 ft you are inside the B, C and D cores (authorization required) but under the 700 and 1,200-ft Class E floors (Class G, no authorization). The C shelf and the upper B tiers are above you.

Blue airport symbol = towered; magenta = non-towered. Sector figures like 40/SFC read "top 4,000 ft MSL, floor at the surface."

Chart elevations are MSL; your 400-ft limit is AGL. The difference is the ground elevation under the obstacle.

[25]

Class D ceiling in hundreds of feet MSL: 2,500 ft MSL. Usually about 2,500 ft above the airport.

40 / SFC 40 / 12

Class C sector limits: top 4,000 ft MSL over the surface core; the shelf is 4,000 down to 1,200 ft MSL.

1549
(1049)

Obstruction: top at 1,549 ft MSL, which is 1,049 ft AGL. Top number is sea level, parenthesis is above ground.

2⁵

Maximum Elevation Figure: highest terrain or obstacle in that lat/long box, plus a buffer, rounded up: 2,500 ft MSL.

CT – 118.3 ★

Control tower frequency 118.3. The star means part-time; check the Chart Supplement for hours. When the tower is closed the Class D goes away.

1120 L 36 122.8 Ⓒ

Airport data line: field elevation 1,120 ft MSL; lighting available; longest runway 3,600 ft; CTAF 122.8. An asterisk on L means lighting limitations.

RP 17

Right pattern for Runway 17. Everything else is standard left traffic.

R-2508 P-56 W-291 A-682

Special use airspace: R = Restricted (permission), P = Prohibited (never), W = Warning (offshore), A = Alert (heads up, no permission needed).

IR1206 VR123

Military training routes. IR/VR = instrument/visual. Four digits: segments at or below 1,500 ft AGL. Three digits: above 1,500 ft AGL.

solid blue

Class B. Authorization required. Terminal Area Charts cover these.

solid magenta

Class C. Authorization required.

dashed blue

Class D. Authorization required while the tower is open.

dashed magenta

Class E to the surface. Authorization required. The one magenta line people forget.

fuzzy magenta

Class E floor at 700 ft AGL inside the shading; Class G below it. At 400 ft you're in G: no authorization needed.

fuzzy blue

Class E floor at 1,200 ft AGL on the fuzzy side (or the default elsewhere). Still Class G where you fly.

● blue airport

Towered airport. Magenta airport symbol = non-towered. Tick marks around the circle mean fuel is available.

Worked out

The math

Six calculations cover every numeric question on the test. Each one below is live; change the inputs and watch the answer move.

Load factor in a turn

load factor (G) = 1 ÷ cos(bank angle) stall speed in the turn = level stall speed × √(load factor)

Drag the slider and watch the magenta lift arrow: it tilts with the bank and has to grow so its vertical part still equals weight. In a level turn the wing (or rotor disc) has to hold the aircraft up and pull it around the circle, so it carries more than the aircraft's weight. The test's favorite: 60° of bank is exactly 2 G, and stall speed rises about 41%.

Bank angle: 60°

2.00 Gload factor

+41%stall speed increase

40 → 57 ktif level stall is 40 kt

Pressure and density altitude

pressure altitude ≈ field elevation + (29.92 − altimeter setting) × 1,000 ISA temperature at that altitude = 15°C − 2°C × (pressure altitude ÷ 1,000) density altitude ≈ pressure altitude + 120 × (actual temp − ISA temp)

Standard day is 15°C and 29.92 inHg at sea level; temperature falls 2°C and pressure 1 inHg per 1,000 ft. Hotter or lower pressure than standard means thinner air: the aircraft behaves as if it were higher. Thinner air = less thrust, shorter battery life.

Field elevation (ft MSL) Altimeter (inHg) Temperature (°C)

5,300 ftpressure altitude

4°Cstandard temp there

8,400 ftdensity altitude

Runway numbers and headings

runway number = magnetic heading rounded to nearest 10°, last zero dropped reciprocal = number ± 18 (heading ± 180°)

Type a heading and the strip turns with it; the number sits at the end an aircraft on that heading starts from. Runway 9 points about 090° magnetic; the other end of the same pavement is Runway 27. Runway numbers are magnetic, which is why towers give wind in magnetic. Written METAR winds are true; the difference is the chart's magnetic variation.

Magnetic heading (°)

Runway 27that direction

Runway 9opposite end

270° at 15a tower would say

Reading a METAR, left to right

KDEN151253Z04008G15KT6SM-RA BRSCT008BKN015OVC03003/02A3011

KDEN	Station: Denver International. Four letters, K prefix in the contiguous U.S.
151253Z	15th day of the month, 12:53 UTC ("Zulu"). Subtract your UTC offset for local.
04008G15KT	Wind from 040° true at 8 knots, gusting 15. VRB = variable, 00000KT = calm.
6SM	Visibility 6 statute miles. Part 107 needs 3.
-RA BR	Light rain, mist. − light, nothing moderate, + heavy. RA rain, SN snow, BR mist, FG fog, TS thunderstorm, HZ haze.
SCT008	Scattered at 800 ft AGL (3–4 oktas). Not a ceiling.
BKN015	Broken at 1,500 ft AGL (5–7 oktas). This is the ceiling: the lowest BKN or OVC layer.
OVC030	Overcast at 3,000 ft AGL (8 oktas).
03/02	Temperature 3°C, dew point 2°C. A 1° spread: expect fog and low cloud. M before a number means minus.
A3011	Altimeter 30.11 inHg.

Cloud clearance check for this METAR: you must stay 500 ft below the clouds. With scattered at 800 ft you're already limited to about 300 ft AGL, and the mist is eating visibility.

Sky cover in oktas (eighths)

FEW1–2 oktas

SCT3–4 oktas

BKN5–7 oktas

OVC8 oktas

An okta is one-eighth of the sky. Ceiling is the lowest BKN or OVC layer, or vertical visibility (VV) into an obscuration. FEW and SCT never make a ceiling.

Civil twilight window

morning civil twilight = official sunrise − 30 minutes evening civil twilight = official sunset + 30 minutes (Alaska uses the Air Almanac instead)

Anti-collision lighting visible for 3 SM is required during civil twilight and at night. Daylight ops without lights run only from sunrise to sunset. Enter today's times from any weather source.

SunriseSunset

6:12 AMlights required before

5:38 PMlights required after

10 h 26 mno-lights daylight window

Five knowledge areas

Modules

Read the key points, then take the 5-question check. Questions rotate each attempt. Four of five is the bar.

Before the exam

Ready?

Pass all five checks to light this up

Unmanned Aircraft General · Small (UAG)

Practice Exam

A fresh draw from the question bank every time, weighted across the five FAA knowledge areas the way the real test is. Grades on the spot and shows you what to study.

60questions on the real test

2 hrstime allowed

70%to pass (42 of 60)

Set up a test

Length

Run the clock (test auto-submits at zero)

The real exam also includes chart-reading questions that refer to figures in the FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (sectional excerpts, METAR/TAF printouts). This bank covers those topics in text form; practice reading a real sectional before test day.