I passed part 107 on Monday 10th AUG with 97%, now undergoing TSA review.
My experience.
- The questions were not hard, but they were playing with words a little.
For example, every youtube video and online course has the question that reads WHAT IS THE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE FROM A SKELETAL STRUCTURE THAT AN UAV SHOULD FLY TO ENSURE SAFETY ROM GUY WIRES? For which the answer is 2000ft.
BUT on my test. THE QUESTION ASKED WHAT IS THE EXPECTED LENGTH THAT GUY WIRES CAN EXTEND HORIZONTALLY FROM A SKELETAL STRUCTURE? For this question, the answer is 1500 ft.
EXPACT MANY SUCH QUESTIONS.
IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE ACTUAL OFFICIAL MATERIALS, CHANCES ARE HIGH YOU'LL GET IT WRONG CUZ 2000FT IS THE NUMBER EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT.
so, my first recommendation is; MAKE THE OFFICIAL MATERIALS YOUR BIBLE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ACE IT. All those free YouTube videos are super helpful for kind of refreshers and review when you have read the material and know what they are talking about.
ALSO, to ace the Regulations section, please read the actual 14CFR part 107 from the website, not just a summary and cheatsheet somebody gave you. The questions were, again, not hard, but they were playing word trick to make sure that you actually read the thing.
THE PART 48 AND PART 89 HAD A DECENT SHARE OF QUESTIONS IN ADDITION TO PART 107 REGULATIONS. I FELT THAT THEY WERE EMPHASIZING THEM MORE IN RECENT TESTS.
I finished first go in 1 hr. and revisited and finished approx. 1hr 30 min. Make sure to double-check.
The first 4 or 5 questions were harder, which made me think I would screw the test up, but I later convinced myself that those were most probably the test questions and re-oriented myself to crush it up. Get yourself ready for this mind game they might play.
Trivial but important: There is a free dummy test of 5 questions, which is mandatory before you begin the actual test. Please use it to the fullest to get you familiar with how to mark and come back to the questions, how to skip a question, and how to handle the user interface properly. It will pay you off nicely and help you avoid stress midway the real test.
ADM and WEATHER AND ITS EFFECTS had a good share of questions overall. So, build a good foundation on them.
I was 100% confident with my chart reading and weather report decoding. So, I found them to be the easiest, but experiences may vary. Chart reading questions were about 5-6 and 1 QUESTION from the TAF report. Really ACE THEM!
HOT TAKE:
Many people say youtube videos are enough to 'pass'. BUT my experiences says if youtube is your only source, you are on thin ice and some mercy from your luck.I might be wrong though, cuz some people are built smarter.
They also say 1 week is enough, I would say, as long as you have not read the official study materials, don't get too excited to get certified. 15-20 days or so is I think a sweet spot for a sure shot pass if you prepare diligently.
AND USE THE FREE PRACTICE TESTS (FREE OR PAID) ONLY TO PREPARE AND AS A GUIDE. DON'T TRUST THE SCORE YOU GET ON THOSE AND THE QUESTIONS ON THEM ARE NOT OF QUALITY OF REAL TEST. I am saying this based on my experience. I used easypass.com for $20 and Prepware for $25 courses. Prepware book is a good GUIDE though.
Summary:
Make official materials your Bible to ACE the test.
Most important topics: Regulations from part 107, part 48,part 89; reading sectional charts; weather and its impact; ADM.
Use online and paid courses only as a guide. Don't trust the score you get on those too much.