Part 107 Test Adds On-Screen Chart Images Beginning October 26

Starting October 26, 2026, the Part 107 knowledge test will put aviation-chart images on the screen—not only in the printed booklet you flip through at the testing center. The FAA’s August 2026 Airman Testing Community Advisory says the Unmanned Aircraft General–Small (UAG) exam will include image-based questions whose chart excerpts are not in the testing supplements.

Part 107 operating rules do not change. What changes is how the test asks you to prove you can read a sectional.

What the FAA is changing

The advisory—produced by the FAA Testing Standards Section and carried on faa.gov—describes a Graphics Conversion Project with testing vendor PSI. The goal is to embed images directly in knowledge-test questions so candidates do not have to chase a figure number in a paper supplement for every chart item.

For UAG specifically, beginning October 26, 2026, applicants may see questions featuring updated sectional-chart images that are not in the printed testing supplement. The FAA published two sample question styles in the advisory:

• One asks what type of airspace is associated with a depicted airport and whether ATC authorization is required to operate a small unmanned aircraft there.
• Another asks which frequency to use as the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) when a control tower is not in operation.

Those samples use current VFR sectional excerpts (the advisory cites Washington and Las Vegas chart dates in the summer 2025 cycle). Live exam images cannot be previewed—once an image is embedded in an active question, it is part of that question’s integrity package.

What does not change

This is a presentation update, not a rewrite of 14 CFR Part 107. You still need the same airspace, weather, loading and performance, and regulations knowledge. The advisory does not announce a new passing score, a new certificate type or new operating privileges.

Printed testing supplements are not gone yet. The FAA says a removal date for supplements at test centers has not been set, the public will get notice first, and until then candidates continue to have access to the supplement for their exam. Expect a mix: some questions still keyed to supplement figures, others carrying their own on-screen chart.

How to study for the new format

Memorizing figure numbers from an old practice PDF gets less useful the day the chart on screen is one you have never seen. Skill beats rote:

• Read real sectional excerpts—airport data blocks, airspace boundaries, floor/ceiling figures, and frequency boxes—without knowing which “Figure 78” it used to be.
• Practice the authorization question: Class E surface areas, Class D, and when LAANC or a manual authorization is required before you launch.
• Know CTAF logic when the tower is closed, not just a memorized frequency string.
• Use PSI’s sample questions on the official testing portal so the on-screen format is not a surprise on exam day.

DroneLife’s October 9 coverage flagged the same advisory timeline for applicants. Independent prep sites are already publishing chart-reading drills aimed at the October 26 cutover; treat those as study aids, not as FAA-endorsed mirrors of live items.

What this means for drone pilots

• Already certificated? Your remote pilot certificate does not expire because the UAG format changes. Recurrent knowledge requirements are a separate track.
• Testing on or after October 26? Budget extra practice for unfamiliar chart excerpts. The knowledge areas are the same; the pictures may not be.
• Instructors and schools: Update practice sets so students interpret live-looking sectionals, not only legacy supplement scans.
• Don’t confuse test format with ops rules. Nothing in this advisory changes how you fly under Part 107 after you pass.

If you are preparing for the UAG now, chart reading is no longer optional “nice to know.” Our Part 107 online course is built around the knowledge areas the FAA still tests—airspace, sectional interpretation and the judgment calls that show up in those sample authorization and CTAF questions.

The bottom line

On October 26, 2026, the Part 107 UAG knowledge test begins including image-based aviation-chart questions that are not limited to the printed supplements. Operating regulations stay the same; supplements remain available until the FAA announces otherwise. Study to read any chart the screen throws at you—not to memorize last year’s figure list.

Sources: FAA Airman Testing Community Advisory (August 2026); DroneLife (Oct. 9, 2026); FAA Airman Testing

0