ATIS: recorded routine terminal information such as weather/runway information.
Near runways, heliports, approach/departure paths, expect low manned aircraft. Yield and remain well clear. Monitoring a radio frequency does not grant controlled-airspace authorization.
Common radio phraseology
Phrase
Meaning
"Say again"
Repeat your last transmission.
"Traffic in sight"
You see the traffic that was called out to you.
"Negative contact"
You do not see the traffic called out — keep looking/listening.
"Standby"
Wait — the other party needs a moment before responding.
"Roger"
Message received and understood (not an acknowledgment that you'll comply, just that you heard it).
Keep transmissions brief and only when needed — unnecessary chatter on a shared frequency can block a time-critical call from someone else.
Video
Air Traffic Patterns
Covers traffic pattern legs and position before the heading-math worked examples below.
Application-style traps
Traffic Pattern Position & Heading
A standard traffic pattern has five legs flown in order: upwind (parallel to the runway, same direction as landing/takeoff), crosswind (perpendicular, climbing away from the runway), downwind (parallel to the runway, opposite direction of landing), base (perpendicular, descending toward the runway), and final (lined up with the runway, landing direction). Unless a chart, airport data, or ATC says otherwise, the standard pattern uses left-hand turns at every corner.
Because every turn in a standard pattern is a 90° left turn, and a left turn subtracts 90° from your heading (mod 360°), you can compute every leg's heading from the runway number alone, reusing the runway-heading method from the Runways & Communications card above (runway number ×10 ≈ magnetic heading):
Upwind = runway heading (same direction as landing).
Crosswind = upwind − 90°.
Downwind = upwind − 180° (the exact reciprocal of the runway/landing heading).
Base = upwind − 270°, i.e. upwind + 90° (mod 360°).
Final = back to the runway heading (upwind − 360° = upwind).
Worked example 1 — Runway 27, standard left traffic
Runway 27 ≈ 270°. Subtract 90° at each left turn:
Leg
Math
Heading
Upwind
270°
270°
Crosswind
270° − 90°
180°
Downwind
270° − 180°
090°
Base
270° − 270° (= 270° + 90°)
360° (000°)
Final
back to runway heading
270°
Check it: upwind (270°) and downwind (090°) are exact reciprocals, 180° apart. Crosswind (180°) and base (000°) are also exact reciprocals, 180° apart, and each sits 90° off the upwind/downwind line.
Worked example 2 — Runway 18, standard left traffic
Runway 18 ≈ 180°. Same method:
Leg
Math
Heading
Upwind
180°
180°
Crosswind
180° − 90°
090°
Downwind
180° − 180°
360° (000°)
Base
180° + 90°
270°
Final
back to runway heading
180°
Again, upwind/downwind (180°/000°) are exact reciprocals, and crosswind/base (090°/270°) are exact reciprocals sitting 90° off the runway line.
Decoding "midfield left downwind" word by word
Midfield — positioned abeam the midpoint of the runway, not near either end.
Left — the pattern in use flies left-hand turns (not a direction you're heading).
Downwind — the leg flown parallel to the runway, in the opposite direction of landing.
Put together, "report midfield left downwind" means: you're flying parallel to the runway, opposite the landing direction, abeam the runway's midpoint, in a pattern that turns left. This full-phrase decoding is exactly what application-style scenario questions test — they don't ask you to define "downwind" alone, they give you the whole phrase and expect you to place the aircraft on the diagram.
Image placeholder: labeled standard left traffic pattern diagram with all 5 legs and headings
Trap: "left traffic" describes the turn direction, not a compass heading — don't confuse it with a leg heading that happens to include the word "left."
Decision making
ADM, CRM & Human Factors
ADM = systematic safe decision-making. CRM = use all people/resources effectively through communication, workload management and situational awareness.
Hazardous attitude
Typical thought
Anti-authority
"Don't tell me."
Impulsivity
"Do something quickly!"
Invulnerability
"It won't happen to me."
Macho
"I can do it—watch this."
Resignation
"What's the use?"
IMSAFE checks personal fitness: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion/Eating.
Task saturation: important cues begin getting missed. Prioritize, communicate, delegate/use available resources.
Flyaway/lost link: protect people and other aircraft first; follow the planned contingency. Equipment recovery is secondary.
ACS task: Emergency Procedures
Emergency Procedures
Lost command-and-control (C2) link: most sUAS are programmed to automatically execute a lost-link procedure, typically return-to-home (RTH) at a preset altitude, followed by an automatic landing or hover if the link isn't restored. During preflight you should already know your aircraft's specific lost-link behavior and RTH altitude, and confirm that altitude actually clears nearby obstacles and stays compatible with the airspace you're flying in — an automatic behavior isn't automatically a safe one.
Flyaway: if the aircraft stops responding to control inputs and isn't following its programmed contingency, the response priority is the same one established on the ADM card above — protect people and other aircraft first; recovering the equipment is secondary. Keep watching the aircraft, warn people nearby if there's time, and be ready to describe its position/trajectory to anyone who needs it (air traffic control, other pilots, or people on the ground).
Authority to deviate: under 14 CFR §107.21, the remote PIC may deviate from any rule in Part 107 to the extent necessary to respond to an in-flight emergency. This is the same citation covered in more detail on the Regulations page's "Numbers You Must Know" card — it isn't a separate rule here, just the same authority applied to the operations scenarios this page covers.
A lost-link or flyaway isn't primarily an equipment problem on the test — it's a decision-making problem. Expect questions to ask what the remote PIC should prioritize, not just what the aircraft automatically does.
14 CFR §107.21 (emergency deviation authority).
Preflight / maintenance
Before Every Flight
Assess the operating environment: airspace, people, property, obstacles, weather, traffic and restrictions.
Confirm the aircraft is in a condition for safe operation: propellers, structure, battery, payload, sensors and command/control link.
Verify mission settings: home point, return-to-home altitude, lost-link behavior and battery reserve.
Brief crew roles, communication and emergency actions.
After configuration changes, repairs or hard landings, inspect/test before committing to the mission.
RTH trap: automatic return-to-home is not automatically "safe." Its altitude must clear obstacles while remaining compatible with applicable airspace and altitude limits.
Maintenance
Battery & Equipment Safety
Most sUAS batteries are lithium-based (LiPo or Li-ion), and they fail differently than alkaline batteries: physical damage, overcharging, or a short circuit can trigger thermal runaway — a self-sustaining fire that's very hard to put out.
Never puncture, crush, or short-circuit a lithium battery.
Inspect for swelling, punctures or damage before every flight; retire a damaged battery rather than keep using it.
Charge in a fire-resistant bag or container, and don't leave batteries unattended while charging.
For storage longer than a few days, keep batteries around 30–60% charge in a cool, dry place — not full, not empty.
Cold weather reduces usable capacity — plan for shorter flights and a bigger reserve.
Battery reserve: plan to land with a reserve, not to fly until the battery is nearly depleted — "how much is left" shouldn't be what decides where you can fly.
FAA-G-8082-22, Ch. 12 (Maintenance and Preflight Inspection Procedures).
Crew roles
Visual Observer
A visual observer (VO) is optional under the standard rule, but specific responsibilities apply if you use one (§107.33).
The VO scans for other aircraft and hazards and communicates that to the remote PIC — reliably and in time to act.
Using a VO does not change who's responsible: the remote PIC remains the final authority for the operation.
The PIC and VO must be able to communicate directly; there's no substitute for a working, immediate link between them.
Trap: "the VO saw the hazard" isn't automatically compliant by itself — what matters is whether that information actually reached the remote PIC in time to act on it.
14 CFR §107.33 (Visual observer).
Beyond IMSAFE
Physiological Factors
Fatigue slows reaction time and degrades judgment well before a pilot feels drowsy — it narrows attention and makes a remote PIC more likely to miss a developing hazard or lock onto one problem while ignoring others.
Dehydration and heat stress (common on long outdoor missions) produce the same symptoms as fatigue: slower reactions, poor concentration and irritability — drink water and take shade breaks before performance drops, not after.
Medication: even common over-the-counter drugs (antihistamines are a classic example) can cause drowsiness or impaired judgment without feeling like "being impaired" — treat OTC side effects as seriously as the alcohol rule on the Regulations page.
Visual scanning for see-and-avoid: an effective scan uses short, regularly spaced eye movements across sectors of sky, pausing briefly in each one — not one continuous sweep, which lets the eye glide past small or slow-moving traffic without resolving it.
Operations-specific question strategy
Scenario Elimination Traps
Operations scenarios are often multi-part: a paragraph of airport/mission detail followed by a question that only depends on one or two of those facts. Before computing anything, separate what's an actual regulatory requirement or limit (altitude, visibility, who yields, reporting thresholds) from what's a red herring — color of the aircraft, an unrelated nearby business, a detail about the operator's day that doesn't change what the rule requires.
CTAF/ATIS frequency trap: airport data (sectional legend or chart supplement entry) prints the CTAF and ATIS frequencies in a specific, consistent location in the airport's data block — a wrong-answer choice will often substitute a different frequency printed nearby (like an approach or tower frequency) that looks similar but serves a different purpose. Read the data block field label, not just the nearest number.
Image placeholder: annotated airport data block showing where CTAF/ATIS frequency is printed
Groundspeed unit-conversion trap: a scenario may give a speed in mph when the standard rule's limit is stated in knots (100 kt-equivalent groundspeed, the 87-knot figure from the Regulations page is the mph-based limit already converted). To convert yourself: multiply mph by 0.868976 to get knots. Worked example: 100 mph × 0.868976 ≈ 87 kt. Don't skip the conversion and compare raw numbers across units.
Final review — Operations
Rapid Recall
Runway number ×10 ≈ magnetic heading • CTAF = position/intentions at nontowered fields • UNICOM = nongovernment advisory • ATIS = recorded weather/runway info
Near runways/heliports/approach-departure paths: expect low manned aircraft, yield and stay clear • monitoring a frequency ≠ airspace authorization
"Say again" = repeat • "Traffic in sight" = I see it • "Negative contact" = I don't see it, keep looking • "Standby" = wait • "Roger" = heard, not "I'll comply"
5 pattern legs in order: upwind → crosswind → downwind → base → final • standard pattern = left turns unless stated otherwise
Left-turn heading math: crosswind = upwind − 90° • downwind = upwind − 180° (reciprocal) • base = upwind + 90° • final = upwind again
"Midfield left downwind" = abeam the runway midpoint, left-hand pattern, flying opposite the landing direction
ADM = safe decision process • CRM = use all people/resources • hazardous attitudes: anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho, resignation
IMSAFE: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion/Eating • task saturation = cues get missed, prioritize and delegate
Flyaway/lost link: protect people and other aircraft first, equipment recovery is secondary • RTH altitude must still clear obstacles and fit the airspace
§107.21: remote PIC may deviate from any Part 107 rule to the extent necessary for an in-flight emergency
Preflight: check environment, aircraft condition, mission settings (home point/RTH altitude/lost-link/battery reserve), brief crew, re-check after any repair or hard landing
Lithium batteries: thermal runaway risk from damage/overcharge/short • inspect every flight • fire-resistant bag to charge • store at 30–60% • land with a reserve, don't fly it to empty
Visual observer (§107.33): optional under the standard rule, but if used must communicate directly with the PIC • PIC stays final authority either way
Physiological factors beyond IMSAFE: fatigue slows reaction time • dehydration/heat stress mimic fatigue • OTC meds can impair without feeling impaired • scan in short, regular sector movements, not one continuous sweep
Scenario questions: sort regulatory facts from red herrings first • find CTAF/ATIS by its data-block label, not the nearest-looking number • mph→knots: ×0.868976 (100 mph ≈ 87 kt)