Part 107 · Chapter 8 of 12

Weather Sources, Reports & Effects

7 free practice questions from the 132 in this chapter of StudyWren Aviation. Pick an answer and check it to see the explanation and its FAA source. Part of the free Part 107 practice test.

METAR UAG-08-014

The METAR for the airport closest to your survey site includes VCSH. What does that tell you about the showers?

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The answer is A: They are 5 to 10 SM from the station

VC (vicinity) means the phenomenon is between 5 and 10 statute miles from the point of observation. Weather at the station is coded without VC, and weather beyond 10 SM is left out of the body and may appear in the remarks, for example as distant (DSNT).

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 24-13 ACS UA.III.A.K2

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ASOS and AWOS UAG-08-021

A METAR for the airport closest to your launch site includes the modifier AUTO after the date and time group. What does AUTO mean?

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The answer is A: Fully automated, with no human oversight

AUTO identifies a fully automated report with no human intervention or oversight. Augmented reports, where an observer adds input, don't carry AUTO, and a corrected report uses COR instead.

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 24-9 ACS UA.III.A.K5

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TAF UAG-08-033

Your survey site in Class G airspace, away from any structures, is next to an airport whose TAF forecasts FM141800 20010KT 5SM BR BKN007 for the time of your flight. If the forecast is right, what is the highest altitude that keeps the required distance below the clouds?

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The answer is A: 200 feet AGL

TAF cloud heights, like METAR heights, are in hundreds of feet AGL, so BKN007 is a ceiling at 700 feet AGL, not 7,000. Staying 500 feet below it gives 700 − 500 = 200 feet AGL, lower than the 400-foot limit; flying to the base ignores the 500-foot rule.

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 27-14 14 CFR 107.51(d) ACS UA.III.A.K3

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Weather charts UAG-08-042

On the GFA's Aviation Clouds Forecast, a cloud layer over your mountain job site is labeled with a base of 040. How are cloud heights on this graphic referenced?

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The answer is B: In hundreds of feet MSL

The Aviation Clouds Forecast gives cloud coverage and heights in hundreds of feet MSL, so 040 is 4,000 feet above sea level, which may be much closer to the ground at a high site. METAR and TAF cloud heights, by contrast, are AGL.

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 27-22 FAA-H-8083-28B p. 24-15 ACS UA.III.A.K4

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Density altitude UAG-08-049

Your launch point is at 2,000 feet elevation on a 35 °C afternoon, with an altimeter setting of 29.72 inHg. Find pressure altitude by adding (29.92 minus the altimeter setting) × 1,000 to the elevation; take standard temperature as 15 °C less 2 °C per 1,000 feet of pressure altitude; then add 120 feet for each °C above standard. About what is the density altitude?

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The answer is B: 5,100 feet

Pressure altitude = 2,000 + (29.92 − 29.72) × 1,000 = 2,200 feet. Standard temperature is 15 − 2 × 2.2 = 10.6 °C, so density altitude ≈ 2,200 + 120 × (35 − 10.6) ≈ 5,100 feet. Stopping at pressure altitude ignores the heat, and reversing the pressure correction gives 4,600 feet.

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 8-14 ACS UA.III.B.K1a

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Wind and turbulence UAG-08-054

You are filming a beach resort on a sunny, calm summer afternoon. Which way is the local wind most likely to blow?

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The answer is C: From the sea toward the land

Land heats faster than water during the day, so lower pressure forms over the warm land and a sea breeze blows from the sea to the land, usually on calm, sunny summer days. A land breeze, from land to sea, is the nighttime and early-morning pattern.

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 10-9 FAA-H-8083-28B p. 10-11 ACS UA.III.B.K1b

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Icing, hail and lightning UAG-08-093

A nearby thunderstorm is producing only rain at the surface. A crew member wants to climb the drone toward the cloud base, saying there's no hail because none is reaching the ground. What is correct?

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The answer is A: Hail may exist aloft and melt as it falls

Hailstones begin to melt once they fall into air warmer than 0 °C, so a storm may deliver only rain at the surface while hail exists higher up. Rain at the surface does not mean there is no hail aloft.

Source: FAA-H-8083-28B p. 14-6 ACS UA.III.B.K1h

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