Part 107 Test Changes for October 26, 2026: New Sectional Chart Questions

Starting October 26, 2026, the FAA Part 107 knowledge test can show you sectional chart images that are not in the printed testing supplement. The number of questions, the time limit, the passing score and the fee are not changing.

What changes on October 26

The FAA announced the change in its Airman Testing Community Advisory, September 2026 Special Edition. It says that beginning October 26, 2026, the UAG test (and the Instrument Rating Airplane test) "will include image-based questions not found in the test supplements." The images come from current FAA VFR charts. For a drone pilot, that means sectional charts.

Until now, chart questions on the drone test have used the figures in the printed booklet, the Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (FAA-CT-8080-2H), which was published in 2018. The FAA says the drone test already has some questions with images embedded on screen. What's new is that some questions will use crops from recent sectionals that aren't in the booklet at all, so you may be reading an area you have never seen before.

Two more details from the same advisory:

• The FAA will not preview the specific images used in live questions. It says doing so would compromise the test.
• It tells candidates to use PSI's sample questions to get used to the new format.

If you see October 27 in other articles, that came from the FAA's June 2026 advisory. The August and September editions corrected the date to October 26.

The two drone sample questions the FAA published

The advisory includes two sample UAG questions, each built on a crop of a 2025 sectional chart. Neither one is exotic. They test the same skills the supplement questions always did:

• Millville Municipal (MIV), Washington sectional. What type of airspace is associated with the airport, and do you need ATC authorization to fly there? The FAA's answer: Class E airspace associated with an airport surface area, and yes, authorization is required.
• Grand Canyon National Park (GCN), Las Vegas sectional. If the control tower is not in operation, which frequency is the CTAF? The FAA's answer is 119.0, the tower frequency, which carries the CTAF symbol on the chart.

Both answers come straight from the chart legend and from 14 CFR 107.41, which requires ATC authorization in Class B, C and D airspace and inside the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport. If you can read airspace boundaries and the airport data block, you can answer them on any chart.

What stays the same

The FAA has not announced any change to the format of the test. Here is what the current FAA and PSI documents say, checked in October 2026:

Topic weights also stay where they have been since September 29, 2025: regulations 48%, airspace 20%, weather 5%, loading and performance 2%, operations 25%, per the PSI UAG bulletin. Airspace is a fifth of the test, and chart reading sits inside it.

One thing is changing on the PSI side, but it isn't the test. The September advisory says PSI is moving its exams to a new Test Taker Portal and that "FAA exam content, standards, oversight, and security remain unchanged." If the scheduling screens look different from what our guide to scheduling the Part 107 test shows, that is why.

The printed supplement isn't going away yet

The FAA's longer plan is to embed every image in the question itself and stop handing out printed supplements. It hasn't set a date. In the advisory's words: "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."

So on test day after October 26 you should expect both kinds of questions: some that point you to a figure in FAA-CT-8080-2H, and some that show a chart image on the screen. The FAA also says that if new on-screen tools (for measuring, for example) are added, it will announce them well in advance.

What this means for studying

Memorizing the supplement's chart figures was never a great plan, and now it covers less of the test. What works is knowing the legend well enough to read any chart cold. A routine that holds up:

1. Find the exact spot the question asks about: the airport, the obstacle, the area number.
2. Name the airspace by color and line: solid blue is Class B, solid magenta is Class C, dashed blue is Class D, dashed magenta is Class E to the surface, and a faded magenta band marks Class E starting at 700 feet above the ground.
3. Read the numbers next to it. Class B and C shelves show ceiling over floor in hundreds of feet MSL. A Class D ceiling sits in a dashed box. Obstacles show the top in MSL with the height above ground in parentheses.
4. Apply the rule. Does 107.41 require authorization? Does the 400-foot limit in 107.51 come into play?

To practice on unfamiliar charts:

• Download a current sectional for free from the FAA's VFR chart page. Pick airports you don't know and quiz yourself on airspace, CTAF and nearby obstacles.
• Keep the FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide open for any symbol you can't place.
• Work through our sectional chart practice questions, then take the free Part 107 practice test to check the other topics.
• Try PSI's free UAG sample test from the "Exam Resources" link at faa.psiexams.com.

If you're wondering whether this makes the test much harder, we don't think so. The skills are the same; only the pictures are new. Our page on whether the Part 107 test is hard covers pass rates and the topics people miss most.

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