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Part 107 glossary: terms for the remote pilot knowledge test

Last updated 2026-11-14 · Published by Certloom Learning · Sources

This glossary defines the regulation, airspace, weather, airport and human factors terms that appear in Part 107 study materials, in one or two sentences each. Each definition names its source, such as 14 CFR 107.3, 14 CFR 1.1 or the AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary, so you can check the exact wording.

What do the regulation and certification terms mean?

Unmanned aircraft
An aircraft operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft. (14 CFR 107.3)
Small unmanned aircraft
An unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds on takeoff, including everything on board or attached. (14 CFR 107.3)
Small unmanned aircraft system (small UAS)
A small unmanned aircraft plus its associated elements, including the communication links and the components that control it, that are required for safe operation in the national airspace system. (14 CFR 107.3)
Control station
The interface the remote pilot uses to control the flight path of the small unmanned aircraft. (14 CFR 107.3)
Visual observer
A person the remote pilot in command designates to help see and avoid other air traffic or objects aloft or on the ground. (14 CFR 107.3)
Declaration of compliance
A record submitted to the FAA certifying that a small unmanned aircraft meets the Category 2 or Category 3 requirements. (14 CFR 107.3)
Remote pilot in command (remote PIC)
The certificated person designated before or during the flight who is directly responsible for the operation and has final authority over it. (14 CFR 107.19)
Person manipulating the flight controls
The person at the controls. An uncertificated person may do this only under the direct supervision of a remote pilot in command who can immediately take control. (14 CFR 107.12)
Remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating
The FAA certificate that allows you to act as remote pilot in command under Part 107. It does not expire, but you must meet knowledge recency. (14 CFR 107.65; FAA)
Aeronautical knowledge recency
The rule that within the previous 24 calendar months you passed an initial knowledge test or completed recurrent training in order to exercise remote PIC privileges. (14 CFR 107.65)
Waiver
An FAA approval to deviate from certain Part 107 operating rules, with conditions the FAA sets. (14 CFR Part 107 subpart D; FAA waivers page)
Airspace authorization
Prior permission from air traffic control to operate in Class B, C or D airspace or inside the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport. (14 CFR 107.41)
LAANC
The FAA's Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability, a system that gives near-real-time airspace authorizations up to facility-set altitudes. (FAA UAS Data Exchange page)
Remote ID
The ability of a drone to broadcast identification and location information that others can receive, required by 14 CFR Part 89. (FAA Remote ID page)
Operations over human beings, Categories 1 to 4
The four ways a drone can qualify to fly over people without a waiver, based on weight and injury potential. (14 CFR Part 107 subpart D; FAA operations over people page)
Right of way
The small unmanned aircraft must yield to all other aircraft and avoid other air traffic. (14 CFR 107.37)

Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.3 (eCFR); 14 CFR Part 107 (eCFR); FAA: Become a Certificated Remote Pilot; FAA: Remote Identification of Drones; FAA: Operations Over People.

What do the flight limit and visibility terms mean?

Visual line of sight (VLOS)
Keeping the aircraft visible with unaided vision (except corrective lenses) so you can know its position, attitude, altitude and direction. The remote PIC or the person at the controls, or a visual observer, must do this throughout the flight. (14 CFR 107.31)
Groundspeed limit
The aircraft's speed relative to the ground may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per hour). (14 CFR 107.51(a))
Maximum altitude
400 ft above ground level, unless flying within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no higher than 400 ft above its uppermost limit. (14 CFR 107.51(b))
Flight visibility
The average slant distance from the control station at which prominent unlighted objects can be seen and identified by day, and prominent lighted objects at night. The minimum is 3 statute miles. (14 CFR 107.51(c))
Cloud clearance
The required distance from clouds: at least 500 ft below and 2,000 ft horizontally. (14 CFR 107.51(d))
Ceiling
The height above the earth's surface of the lowest layer of clouds or obscuring phenomena reported as broken, overcast or obscuration, and not classified as thin or partial. (14 CFR 1.1; AIM glossary)
Civil twilight
For Part 107, the period from 30 minutes before official sunrise to sunrise and from official sunset to 30 minutes after sunset, except in Alaska. (14 CFR 107.29(c))
Night
The time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time. (14 CFR 1.1)
Anti-collision lighting
Lights visible for at least 3 statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision, required at night and during civil twilight. You may reduce intensity but not extinguish them. (14 CFR 107.29)

Sources (checked 2026-11-14): 14 CFR 107.51 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.29 (eCFR); 14 CFR 107.31 (eCFR); 14 CFR 1.1 (eCFR); AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary.

What do the airspace and chart terms mean?

Controlled airspace
Airspace of defined dimensions in which air traffic control service is provided to IFR flights and to VFR flights in accordance with the airspace classification. It covers Class A, B, C, D and E. (14 CFR 1.1)
Uncontrolled airspace
Airspace in which aircraft are not subject to controlled airspace separation criteria. Class G. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Class A
Controlled airspace from 18,000 ft MSL up to and including FL600. It is not shown on sectional charts. (AIM 3-2)
Class B
Controlled airspace around the busiest airports, shown with solid blue lines. A Part 107 flight needs ATC authorization. (AIM 3-2; 14 CFR 107.41)
Class C
Controlled airspace around busy towered airports, shown with solid magenta lines. A Part 107 flight needs ATC authorization. (AIM 3-2; 14 CFR 107.41)
Class D
Controlled airspace around towered airports, shown with dashed blue lines, with a ceiling printed in hundreds of feet MSL. A Part 107 flight needs ATC authorization. (AIM 3-2; 14 CFR 107.41)
Class E
Controlled airspace that is not A, B, C or D. It may begin at the surface, 700 ft AGL, 1,200 ft AGL or a charted MSL altitude, and otherwise begins at 14,500 ft MSL. (AIM 3-2; FAA study guide)
Surface area
The airspace within the lateral boundary of the Class B, C, D or E airspace designated for an airport that begins at the surface and extends upward. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Shelf
A section of Class B or C airspace whose floor is above the ground, printed on the chart as a fraction such as 40 over 12 (ceiling over floor in hundreds of feet MSL). (Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide)
MSL
Altitude expressed in feet measured from mean sea level. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
AGL
Altitude expressed in feet measured above ground level. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Special use airspace
Airspace of defined dimensions where activities must be confined or where limits may be imposed on aircraft not part of those activities. It includes alert, controlled firing, military operations, prohibited, restricted and warning areas. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Prohibited area
Airspace designated under Part 73 within which no person may operate an aircraft without the permission of the using agency. (14 CFR 1.1)
Restricted area
Airspace designated under Part 73 within which flight is not wholly prohibited but is subject to restriction. (14 CFR 1.1)
Warning area
Special use airspace that extends outward from the U.S. coast, beginning three nautical miles out, and contains activity that may be hazardous to nonparticipating aircraft. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Military operations area (MOA)
Special use airspace with defined vertical and lateral limits that separates certain military training from IFR traffic. Check its activity status before flying there. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Alert area
A type of special use airspace that may contain a high volume of pilot training or an unusual type of aerial activity. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Military training route (MTR)
Airspace of defined dimensions for military flight training at speeds above 250 knots indicated airspeed. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Temporary flight restriction (TFR)
A regulatory action issued through the NOTAM system that restricts certain aircraft in a defined area for a limited time. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
NOTAM
A notice containing information about the establishment, condition or change of an aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard that pilots need to know in time. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Chart Supplement
The FAA directory that lists detailed data on airports, including communication frequencies, services and remarks; the FAA study guide says it is revised every 56 days. (FAA study guide)

Sources (checked 2026-11-14): AIM chapter 3, section 2 (controlled airspace); AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary; 14 CFR 1.1 (eCFR); FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide; FAA Remote Pilot sUAS Study Guide (FAA-G-8082-22).

What do the weather terms mean?

METAR
An aviation routine weather report of observed conditions at an airport, including wind, visibility, sky condition, temperature, dew point and altimeter setting. (FAA study guide; AIM 7-1)
TAF
A terminal aerodrome forecast for a specific airport. Its change groups are FM, TEMPO, BECMG and PROB. (AIM 7-1)
FM (in a TAF)
"From": a significant change expected at the stated time, after which the new conditions apply. (AIM 7-1)
TEMPO (in a TAF)
Temporary fluctuations lasting less than 1 hour each time and covering less than half of the stated period. (AIM 7-1)
BECMG (in a TAF)
A change expected gradually within the stated period. (AIM 7-1)
PROB30 / PROB40
A 30 or 40 percent probability of the stated condition in the stated period. (AIM 7-1)
Zulu time
UTC, the single world time standard used in aviation weather reports. (FAA study guide)
Knot
One nautical mile per hour, about 1.15 statute miles per hour. Wind and the Part 107 speed limit use knots. (14 CFR 107.51; AIM)
Statute mile
The mile used for visibility in METAR reports and for the Part 107 visibility minimum of 3 statute miles. (AIM 7-1; 14 CFR 107.51)
Sky condition (FEW, SCT, BKN, OVC)
The cloud coverage reported in eighths of the sky with a height in hundreds of feet AGL: few, scattered, broken or overcast. (FAA study guide)
PIREP
A pilot weather report, a report by a pilot in flight of conditions such as turbulence, icing or cloud tops. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
AIRMET and SIGMET
In-flight advisories of hazardous weather; SIGMETs are for more severe phenomena. (AIM 7-1)
ASOS and AWOS
Automated surface and weather observing systems that report current conditions at an airport, often by recorded broadcast. (AIM 7-1; FAA study guide)
Altimeter setting
The barometric pressure reading used to adjust a pressure altimeter, in inches of mercury (for example A2992). (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
Density altitude
Pressure altitude corrected for nonstandard temperature. Higher density altitude reduces aircraft performance. (FAA study guide)
Wind shear
A sudden change in wind speed or direction over a short distance, a hazard near thunderstorms and fronts. (FAA study guide)
Microburst
A small downburst with damaging outbursts of wind extending 2.5 miles or less, intense enough to produce very high wind speeds. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)

Sources (checked 2026-11-14): AIM chapter 7, section 1 (meteorology); FAA Remote Pilot sUAS Study Guide (FAA-G-8082-22); AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary.

What do the airport, radio and operations terms mean?

CTAF
The Common Traffic Advisory Frequency, used for airport advisories at airports without an operating control tower. It may be a UNICOM, Multicom, FSS or tower frequency. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
UNICOM
A non-government communication facility that provides advisory information at an airport; some are fully automated with weather and radio checks. (AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary)
ATIS
The Automatic Terminal Information Service, a recorded broadcast of weather and airport information. (AIM 4-1)
Maintenance
Inspection, overhaul, repair, preservation and the replacement of parts, excluding preventive maintenance. (14 CFR 1.1)

Sources (checked 2026-11-14): AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary; AIM chapter 4, section 1 (air traffic control facilities); 14 CFR 1.1 (eCFR); FAA Remote Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-10B, April 2021); FAA Remote Pilot sUAS Study Guide (FAA-G-8082-22).

What do the loading, physiology and decision-making terms mean?

Load factor
The ratio of the load the aircraft's lift supports to the aircraft's weight; it rises in turns and raises stall speed. (FAA study guide)
Center of gravity (CG)
The point where the aircraft balances; loading changes it and affects stability and control. (ACS UA.IV.A.K1b)
Aeronautical decision-making (ADM)
A systematic approach to risk assessment and decisions for pilots. (FAA study guide; ACS UA.V.D)
Crew resource management (CRM)
Using all available resources, including people, equipment and information, to operate safely. (ACS UA.V.D.K2)
Hazardous attitudes
Five mental patterns: anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho and resignation. (FAA study guide)
Fly-away
A flight in which the aircraft leaves the intended area without pilot control, for example after a lost link. (ACS UA.V.C.K3)
Lithium battery fire
A fire in a lithium battery, a hazard in charging, transport and flight. The FAA study guide notes that a battery fire in flight may justify climbing above 400 ft AGL as an emergency action. (SAFO 09013; FAA study guide)
In-flight emergency
A situation in which the remote PIC may deviate from rules only as far as needed, and must report on request. (14 CFR 107.21)

Sources (checked 2026-11-14): FAA Remote Pilot sUAS Study Guide (FAA-G-8082-22); FAA Remote Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-10B, April 2021); 14 CFR 107.21 (eCFR).

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How this page was made: written by Certloom Learning from the sources above, with the rules checked against the current regulation text. Practice items are original questions from the app's reviewed bank. Spot an error? certloomlearning@gmail.com.