Part 107 Night Operations Practice Test

All 10 night operations questions, with answers and references

The drill above shuffles the answer choices on every attempt. Below is the same 10-question set written out in full, in a fixed order, so you can read it straight through, print it, or check a single rule without restarting a quiz. Each answer carries the reasoning and the FAA source it rests on.

1. For night operations under Part 107, the anti-collision lighting must be visible for at least:

   • A. 1 statute mile, steady burning
   • B. 3 statute miles, with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision Correct answer
   • C. 5 statute miles, any color
   • D. No lighting is required if a visual observer is used

   Why: Night ops require anti-collision lighting visible for 3 SM with an adequate flash rate. Standard consumer position lights usually do not qualify by themselves.

   Reference: 14 CFR 107.29

2. In the continental US, civil twilight is generally the period:

   • A. 30 minutes before official sunrise and 30 minutes after official sunset Correct answer
   • B. 1 full hour before official sunrise and 1 full hour after official sunset
   • C. From sunset until sunrise
   • D. Only defined in summer months

   Why: Civil twilight spans roughly 30 minutes around sunrise/sunset in the lower 48 (Alaska uses a different definition).

   Reference: 14 CFR 107.29

3. To operate during civil twilight, a small UA must have:

   • A. No special equipment
   • B. Standard factory position lights on the aircraft only
   • C. Anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles Correct answer
   • D. A landing light

   Why: The same 3-SM anti-collision lighting rule covers both civil twilight and night operations.

   Reference: 14 CFR 107.29

4. Before flying at night under the current rules, a remote pilot must have:

   • A. A 107.29 waiver (still required today)
   • B. An instrument rating
   • C. Completed the updated initial knowledge test or the current online recurrent training Correct answer
   • D. Nothing — there are no prerequisites

   Why: Since April 21, 2021, night flight is a standard privilege for pilots who completed the updated test/training, with proper anti-collision lighting.

   Reference: 14 CFR 107.29; 2021 final rule

5. To best detect a dim object at night, you should:

   • A. Stare directly at the object
   • B. Close one eye to sharpen focus
   • C. Scan rapidly back and forth across it
   • D. Look slightly off-center (about 5-10°) so the rod cells can detect it Correct answer

   Why: Rods — the night-vision cells — sit outside the central fovea, so off-center viewing reveals dim objects that vanish when stared at directly.

   Reference: FAA Remote Pilot Study Guide; AIM 8-1-6 concepts

6. How long does it typically take the eyes to fully adapt to darkness, and what resets that adaptation?

   • A. About 30 minutes; exposure to bright light resets it Correct answer
   • B. About 5 minutes; nothing resets it
   • C. About 2 hours; only exposure to direct sunlight can reset it
   • D. Adaptation is instantaneous

   Why: Full rod adaptation takes roughly 30 minutes, and one glance at a bright white light — headlights, a phone screen — can undo it.

   Reference: FAA Remote Pilot Study Guide

7. Anti-collision lighting is required during which operating periods?

   • A. Night only
   • B. Civil twilight and night operations Correct answer
   • C. All operations, day and night
   • D. Night operations conducted in Class G airspace only

   Why: Both civil twilight and night operations require the 3-SM anti-collision lighting; daytime flights do not.

   Reference: 14 CFR 107.29

8. For Part 107 purposes, night begins and ends at:

   • A. the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight Correct answer
   • B. sunset and sunrise as published for the operating location in the Chart Supplement
   • C. one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise, regardless of latitude or season
   • D. the moment the remote pilot can no longer make out the aircraft's outline unaided

   Why: Night runs from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight, published in the Air Almanac and converted to local time. Civil twilight itself is not night, though it carries the same anti-collision lighting requirement.

   Reference: 14 CFR 1.1, 107.29

9. Before conducting a Part 107 flight at night, a remote pilot must have:

   • A. logged at least three night flights supervised by another certificated remote pilot
   • B. completed the updated training that covers night operations Correct answer
   • C. obtained a 107.29 waiver through the FAA DroneZone portal
   • D. filed a night operations plan with the ATC facility having jurisdiction over the area

   Why: Since the 2021 change the requirement is knowledge, not paperwork: the initial knowledge test or the free recurrent training, whichever applies, must have covered night operations. No logged night hours and no waiver are required.

   Reference: 14 CFR 107.29, 107.65

10. At night a remote pilot's ability to judge the aircraft's distance and orientation degrades, mainly because:

    • A. anti-collision strobes wash out the aircraft's silhouette at every distance
    • B. peripheral vision sharpens after dark while central vision stays unchanged
    • C. the eye's colour receptors adapt to darkness faster than its low-light receptors do
    • D. depth perception relies on cues that darkness removes Correct answer

    Why: Judging distance depends on seeing size, shape, and the surroundings, and darkness takes all three away. A pair of navigation lights gives orientation but almost no distance information, which is why aircraft feel closer than they are at night.

    Reference: FAA sUAS study guide, night physiology; PHAK ch. 17

Ready for the real format? Take the full 60-question timed mock exam, which draws from all seven topics using the FAA's published area weighting.