Radio procedures — Part 107 practice questions

10 practice questions on radio procedures from the FAA remote pilot knowledge test, each with the correct answer and why it is correct.

1. 01

   How is the CTAF identified in an airport's data block on a sectional chart?

   • By a solid filled circle containing the letter C after the frequencyCorrect
   • By an asterisk placed before the frequency
   • By the frequency being printed in bold italics
   • By a magenta box drawn around the airport name
   Why

   The convention is a solid filled circle containing a C, printed immediately after the frequency. It is worth being able to spot quickly: the same data block carries several numbers, and picking the wrong one means announcing your operation on a frequency nobody in the pattern is monitoring.

2. 02

   Why does a self-announce radio call at a nontowered airport begin and end with the airport name?

   • Because the same frequency may serve several airports, and the name identifies which one is meantCorrect
   • Because Air Traffic Control records the call for traffic sequencing
   • Because part 107 prescribes that format for remote pilots
   • Because the name substitutes for the aircraft's registration
   Why

   One CTAF frequency often serves several nearby airports, so the name is what tells listeners whether the call concerns them. Bracketing the transmission with it means a pilot who tunes in mid-call still catches it. No controller is recording any of this — the redundancy is for the other pilots.

3. 03

   What is UNICOM?

   • A nongovernment air-to-ground station that may provide airport informationCorrect
   • An FAA-operated control facility that issues clearances
   • A recorded broadcast of the current weather observation
   • A discrete frequency reserved for emergency transmissions
   Why

   UNICOM is a nongovernment air-to-ground station — often the fixed-base operator — that may pass airport information such as the runway in use or field conditions. It issues nothing and controls nothing. At many airports it shares a frequency with the CTAF, which is why the two are easily conflated.

4. 04

   What does the phonetic letter at the end of an ATIS broadcast indicate?

   • Which version of the recorded information the pilot has receivedCorrect
   • The runway currently in use
   • The severity of any reported weather hazard
   • The class of airspace surrounding the airport
   Why

   The letter versions the recording. Each new observation gets the next letter, so a pilot reporting "information Bravo" is telling the controller which set of conditions they are working from — and revealing immediately if they have missed an update. It encodes no weather and no airspace information itself.

5. 05

   A tower directs a steady green light gun signal at an aircraft in flight. What does it mean?

   • Cleared to landCorrect
   • Return for landing
   • Give way to other aircraft and continue circling
   • Airport unsafe, do not land
   Why

   Steady green to an aircraft in flight means cleared to land. The same colour means cleared for takeoff to an aircraft on the ground — every light gun signal has two meanings, and which one applies depends on whether the aircraft is airborne. Learning them as colour-plus-state rather than colour alone is the only way they stay straight.

6. 06

   What does a flashing red light gun signal mean to an aircraft in flight?

   • Airport unsafe, do not landCorrect
   • Cleared to land
   • Return to the starting point on the airport
   • Exercise extreme caution
   Why

   Flashing red to an aircraft in flight means the airport is unsafe and not to land. On the ground the same signal means taxi clear of the runway in use. Steady red, not flashing, is the one that means give way and keep circling.

7. 07

   What is the purpose of the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF)?

   • To carry airport advisory practices at airports without an operating control towerCorrect
   • To receive taxi and takeoff clearances from Air Traffic Control
   • To obtain airspace authorization for operations in Class D airspace
   • To broadcast recorded weather observations only
   Why

   CTAF is how aircraft at an airport with no operating tower coordinate with each other rather than with a controller. Nobody issues clearances on it and nobody is sequencing traffic — pilots self-announce their position and intentions, and separation comes from everyone else having listened.

8. 08

   Is a radio required for a small unmanned aircraft operation conducted under part 107?

   • No, but monitoring the CTAF near a nontowered airport is recommended for traffic awarenessCorrect
   • Yes, whenever the operation is within 5 statute miles of any airport
   • Yes, in all controlled airspace
   • No, and monitoring any aviation frequency is prohibited
   Why

   Part 107 requires no radio at all. Monitoring the CTAF near a nontowered airport is nonetheless worth doing, because manned aircraft announce their positions there and hearing them is cheap traffic awareness. Listening is never prohibited; it is transmitting badly that causes problems.

9. 09

   What is the guiding principle for a remote pilot's radio transmission near a nontowered airport?

   • Keep it brief and factual, stating the location and nature of the operationCorrect
   • Request a clearance from the manned aircraft in the pattern
   • Transmit continuously for the duration of the unmanned operation
   • Use the aircraft's serial number in place of a position report
   Why

   Brief and factual: where you are and what you are doing. Everyone else on that frequency is flying an aircraft while listening, and a long transmission blocks the frequency for calls that may matter more. A remote pilot has no standing to request clearances from manned traffic — the transmission is information, not negotiation.

10. 10

    What information does an ASOS or AWOS broadcast provide?

    • A current surface weather observation for that airportCorrect
    • A forecast of conditions for the next 24 hours
    • Air Traffic Control clearances for departing aircraft
    • The status of nearby restricted airspace
    Why

    A current observation at that field — wind, visibility, sky condition, temperature, dew point and altimeter setting — measured and rebroadcast continuously. It is observation, not forecast, and it is automated: no controller is involved and nothing about airspace status is included.