How to Read Sectional Charts
Sectional charts show a portion of a flight region, highlighting important landmarks and features to guide the pilot during a flight. Roads, rivers and railways are included, along with tall buildings and natural landmarks. You can purchase a sectional chart before your flight from local airports or pilot shops for a low cost. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also provides downloadable charts on its website. In order to read sectional charts, you should become familiar with the basic information.
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Instructions
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Learn about the different colors for ground elevations on the chart. The elevations range from -282 feet (blue) to 14,405 feet (brown). A key on the chart will identify the different colors.
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Locate the key titled “Topographic Information” on your chart. The key includes all of the different features of the map along with the symbols. For example, a black diamond with the letters “CG” indicates a Coast Guard Station and two squares separated by dashed lines show the location of aerial cable.
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Find the “Radio Aids to Navigation and Communication Boxes” key. This box contains all of the symbols you’ll need to communicate with the ground and other aircraft, like a nondirectional radio beacon (a shaded circle with a smaller circle inside).
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Locate the “Airports” and “Additional Airport Information” keys on your chart. These will help you to identify the 16 types of airport generally shown on sectional maps (from heliports to military). A blue lined box will give you information about the airport (there is a separate key for all of the information contained within it).
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Look at the “Airport Traffic Service and Airspace Information” key. This will help you to avoid flying into restricted airspace. It also will show you how high you need to fly to avoid restricted areas. For example, Class E Airspace may have a floor of 700 feet or 1,200 feet above the surface, depending on the shading on the map.
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Tips & Warnings
There are hundreds of different symbols on the map. Each symbol will be on one of the keys. Due to the sheer number of symbols, you may want to familiarize yourself with all of the symbols on your sectional map before starting out on a flight.
Sectional charts can quickly become outdated due to changes in restricted airspace, new roads and buildings. You should purchase a new one every six months.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit airplane image by Clarence Alford from Fotolia.com
