What changes in the Part 107 test on October 26, 2026

From October 26, 2026 the FAA's Part 107 knowledge test (Unmanned Aircraft General - Small) "will include image-based questions not found in the test supplements". That sentence is the FAA's, from its August 2026 advisory. This page sets out what the advisory says, what it means if you are studying, and a short free primer on reading a sectional chart.

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What the FAA says

The FAA's Airman Testing Community Advisory, August 2026 edition, says:

"Beginning October 26, 2026*, the Instrument Rating Airplane (IRA) and Unmanned Aircraft General-Small (UAG) tests will include image-based questions not found in the test supplements (see examples below). This update enhances the tests by incorporating clearer, up-to-date images from the latest Sectional Charts, Instrument Approach Charts, and Low Altitude Enroute Charts."

The advisory's own note on the date: "*Corrected date from the previous edition of this advisory."

It names where the images come from: "VFR Charts" and "IFR Low Altitude Charts". The Part 107 test is the one the FAA calls Unmanned Aircraft General - Small, or UAG.

On the printed testing supplement, the same advisory says:

"The date for removing testing supplements from test centers has not yet been set. However, the public will receive ample notice before this change takes effect. Until the removal, candidates will continue to have access to the testing supplement for their exam."

And on seeing the images in advance:

"Once an image is embedded in a test question, it becomes an integral part of that question. Consequently, the specific images used in active test questions cannot be previewed, as doing so would compromise the exam's integrity."

Read the FAA's advisory (PDF on faa.gov). The passages above are from its section "Graphics Conversion Project Update".

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What it means if you are studying

Some chart questions will show a chart you have not seen. The advisory says the test will include image-based questions "not found in the test supplements", with images "from the latest Sectional Charts". Knowing the supplement's figures by sight is no longer enough for those questions: you need to be able to read a sectional chart.
The supplement is still there. The advisory says candidates "will continue to have access to the testing supplement for their exam" until it is removed, and that the date for that "has not yet been set".
Nobody can show you the test's images. The advisory says they "cannot be previewed". Any study aid, this one included, can only give you practice at reading charts.

The advisory does not say how many such questions a test will have, or which charts they use. This page does not guess.

Part 107 Test Prep by the Book has 70 questions on 12 excerpts of FAA sectional charts (edition of September 3, 2026) that are not in the testing supplement, and 136 questions on the supplement's own figures. The excerpts are practice at reading a chart you have not seen; they are not the FAA's test images.

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A short primer: airspace classes and how a sectional chart shows them

The six classes of airspace, where each one starts and stops, and the lines, colors and numbers a sectional chart uses for them. Under 14 CFR 107.41, the class of airspace decides whether a flight needs prior ATC authorization.

This is one of the app's free lessons, in full. Each part links to the federal text it was written from. Rules and charts change, and the federal source is always the authority.

Controlled and uncontrolled airspace

Feet MSL are feet above mean sea level. Feet AGL are feet above ground level. NM means nautical miles.

Airspace has two categories, regulatory and nonregulatory, and four types: controlled, uncontrolled, special use, and other airspace.

Controlled airspace is a generic term for airspace of defined dimensions where air traffic control (ATC) service is provided according to the airspace class. It covers Class A, B, C, D and E. Class G is uncontrolled airspace.

Where airspace designations overlap:

When two airspace designations overlap, the operating rules of the more restrictive one apply.
From most to least restrictive: Class A, B, C, D, E, G.

Sources: FAA-G-8082-22, Chapter 2, Remote Pilot Study Guide: Airspace Classification, Operating Requirements, and Flight Restrictions; AIM 3-1-3, Hierarchy of Overlapping Airspace Designations; Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, Introduction, FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, edition of 9 July 2026.

Class A and Class B

Class A airspace is generally the airspace from 18,000 feet MSL up to and including flight level (FL) 600. It is not specifically charted.

Class B airspace is generally the airspace from the surface to 10,000 feet MSL around the nation's busiest airports. Each area is individually tailored, with a surface area and two or more layers. Some resemble upside-down wedding cakes.

On a sectional chart, each Class B sector shows its MSL ceiling and floor in solid blue figures with the last two zeros omitted. 100 over SFC means a ceiling of 10,000 feet MSL and a floor at the surface.

Sources: AIM 3-2-2, Class A Airspace; FAA-G-8082-22, Chapter 2, Remote Pilot Study Guide: Airspace Classification, Operating Requirements, and Flight Restrictions; Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, VFR Terms and Symbols, FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, edition of 9 July 2026.

Class C

Class C airspace is generally the airspace from the surface to 4,000 feet above the airport elevation, charted in MSL. It surrounds airports that have an operational control tower, are serviced by a radar approach control, and have a certain number of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations or passenger enplanements.

Class C airspace usually consists of a core surface area with a 5 NM radius, from the surface up to 4,000 feet above the airport elevation, and a shelf area with a 10 NM radius that starts no lower than 1,200 feet above the airport elevation and has the same top.

Class C areas also have a procedural Outer Area, normally 20 NM from the primary airport.
Chart: solid magenta lines. Ceiling and floor of each sector in solid magenta figures, last two zeros left off.

Sources: AIM 3-2-4, Class C Airspace; FAA-G-8082-22, Chapter 2, Remote Pilot Study Guide: Airspace Classification, Operating Requirements, and Flight Restrictions; Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, VFR Terms and Symbols, FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, edition of 9 July 2026.

Class D

Class D airspace is generally the airspace from the surface to 2,500 feet above the airport elevation, charted in MSL, around airports that have an operational control tower.

A sectional chart shows Class D with a blue dashed line. The ceiling is a boxed number in hundreds of feet MSL: 32 means 3,200 feet MSL. A minus sign in front means from the surface to, but not including, that value.

Arrival extensions: as a general rule, if all are 2 miles or less they stay part of the Class D surface area. If any one is greater than 2 miles, all are Class E.

Sources: FAA-G-8082-22, Chapter 2, Remote Pilot Study Guide: Airspace Classification, Operating Requirements, and Flight Restrictions; Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, VFR Terms and Symbols, FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, edition of 9 July 2026; AIM 3-2-5, Class D Airspace.

Class E

Class E airspace is the controlled airspace that is not Class A, B, C or D. In most areas its base is 1,200 feet AGL. In many other areas the base is the surface or 700 feet AGL. Unless designated at a lower altitude, Class E airspace begins at 14,500 feet MSL. It typically extends up to, but not including, 18,000 feet MSL.

Magenta dashed line: Class E airspace that begins at the surface.
Magenta vignette (a shaded band): a floor 700 feet above the ground.
Blue vignette: a Class E floor of 1,200 feet AGL.
No line and no shading: Class E exists at 1,200 feet AGL unless designated otherwise.
Federal airways (blue lines) are Class E, from 1,200 feet AGL up to, but not including, 18,000 feet MSL unless otherwise specified.

Class G

Class G airspace is uncontrolled airspace: the portion not designated as Class A, B, C, D or E. It extends from the surface to the base of the overlying Class E airspace.

So the Class E floor is the top of Class G: 700 feet AGL inside a magenta shaded band, and 1,200 feet AGL where no dashed line or shaded band is charted.

Sources: FAA-G-8082-22, Chapter 2, Remote Pilot Study Guide: Airspace Classification, Operating Requirements, and Flight Restrictions; FAA-CT-8080-2H, Legend 1, Sectional Aeronautical Chart legend; FAA-H-8083-25C, Chapter 15, Airspace: Uncontrolled Airspace.

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