Know Your ABCs

Before 2015, passing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) written tests was a simple task. Back then, the FAA published all their questions and answers, leaving no surprises to an astute user who spent a few hours with prep materials. Some folks even memorized the answers to questions they didn’t understand or didn’t want to calculate while sitting for their exam. However, the FAA decided to change things up by no longer providing these details, leaving pilots guessing what specific questions they would face. While we have not been left entirely in the dark, as study guides still do a decent job preparing us for the FAA’s tests, gone are the days when we recognize verbatim questions and answers across our testing experience. So, when the FAA announced they were adding a written test for remote pilots, test prep folks scrambled to figure out what the heck the FAA would be asking on their latest assessment.

Because I had worked with aviation publisher ASA in the past and was already kneedeep in drone research, they asked me if I could help determine what made sense to put in a remote pilot written test guide. After some initial speculation, a few of us decided we needed some for some firsthand experience through taking the