Content:

1. Latitude and Longtitude

2. Projections

3. Types of Aeronautical Charts

4. Chart Terrain and Elevation

5. Chart Symbology

1. Latitude and Longitude

• Equator: The imaginary line that circles the earth midway between the north and south poles

• Latitude (Parallels): Parallel to each other and to the equator

• Designated as north or south of the equator

• Identified by degrees ranging from 0 degrees at the equator to 90 degrees at each pole

• At the north and south poles, 90 degrees refers to a single point

• Longitude (Meridians): Run north and south between the poles and cross the equator at right angles

• The prime meridian is designated as 0 degrees of longitude and passes through Greenwich, England

• Designated as west or east from the prime meridian

• Identified by degrees: 179 equally spaced lines of longitude to the east of the prime meridian and 179 equally spaced lines of longitude to the west of the prime meridian; the remaining two lines of longitude are the prime meridian at 0 degrees and its counterpart on the opposite side of the globe at 180 degrees. Neither of these meridians uses an east or west reference

• An aeronautical chart displays lines of latitude and longitude as a grid pattern

• Degrees of latitude and longitude:

• Can be divided into minutes

• There are 60 minutes in each degree

• Minutes of latitude and longitude:

• Can be divided into seconds?

• There are 60 seconds in each minute

• Each minute is equal to one nautical mile

• Seconds

• Latitude and Longitude Coordinates

• Latitude first, Longitude second

2. Projections

• Distortion is interent in all maps and charts that are created using projection

• Projection Types

• Mercator Projection:

• The distortion of a landmass increases with its distance from equator

• Lambert Conformal Conic Projection:

• Displays no significant distortion as long as they depict only a small area of the earth's surface

• Aeronautical charts are small enough that distortion is negligible with Lambert Projection, so that is the projection technique on which the aeronautical charts you use are frequently based

3. Types of Aeronautical Charts

1. World Aeronautical Charts

• Use a scale of 1 to 1 million - 1 inch of the chart represents approximately 14 nautical miles

• Often used by pilots of high-performance airplanes because those aircraft operate at high altitudes and airspeeds

• Reduce the total number of charts needed and the need to change charts frequently

2. Sectional Aeronautical Charts

• Use a scale of 1 to 500,000?- 1 inch of the?chart represents approximately 7?nautical miles

• Considered by VFR pilots to be good overall navigation charts

• Provide enough detail and cover enough area to be useful for most navigation situations in aviation

3. VFR Terminal Area Charts

• Use a scale of 1 to 250,000?- 1 inch of the?chart represents approximately 3.5?nautical miles

• Provide detail to VFR pilots who are flying or planning to fly in Class B airspace

• Provide a more detailed display of topographical features than do sectional charts

4. VFR Flyway Planning Chart

• Ground reference

• Will help you in flight planning

• VFR flyways and altitudes (They are designated to help you avoid high-traffic areas such as IFR arrival and departure routes)

• VFR flyways

• An ATC clearance is not required to operate on a VFR flyway

• VFR transition routes

• Before entering Class B airspace on a VFR transition route, you must obtain an ATC clearance

• After receiving a clearance, you must fly the route as depicted on the chart at an ATC-assigned altitude

• VFR corridors

• Airspace with specific vertical and lateral dimensions that alows you to fly through class B airspace without a clearance from or communication with ATC

• A legend on the planning chart identifies the symbols that depict the routes

• IFR arrival and departure routes

• IFR arrival routes are depicted with arrowheads and large aircraft symbols

• IFR departure routes are shown as a line of arrowheads that indicate the direction of departure

• Determining Chart Currency

• "Effective": Beginning of the period in which the chart is current

• "To": End of the period in which the chart is current

• You should not use the chart for navigation or planning at anytime before or after the specified date range

4. Chart Terrain and Elevation

• Widely spaced contours represent gentle slopes

• Closely spaced contours represent steep slopes

• The color graph on the front panel of VFR aeronautical charts defines the gradient tints assigned to various elevations

• Maximum Elevation Figures (MEF):?

• Rectangular areas bounded by ticked lines of latitude and longitude

• Based on the highest known feature within the quadrangle

5. Chart Symbology

• Airport Symbols

• An open circle indicates that the airport does not have a hard-surfaced runway

• If an airport has at least one hard-surfaced runway that is 1,500 feet to 8,069 feet in length, the chart symbol displays a runway layout inside a circle. Runway orientation in these symbols reflects the runway's approximate magnetic direction

• At airports with at least one hard-surfaced runway that is longer than 8,069 feet, the airport symbols show the outline of the runways to indicate the general layout of the airport

• The star indicates that an airport beacon normally operates from sunset to sunrise

• Symbols with tick marks extending from the sides indicate that fuel is available at that airport and that the field is attended during normal working hours

• A circle with an X superimposed over it represents an abandoned airport

• Airport Data

  
  

• Navigation Aids and Communication Symbols

• VOR: Used in civil aviation

• TACAN: Used by military

• VORTAC: provide DME (distance measuring equipment) that can be used by both civil and military equipment

• Topographic Symbols

• Obstruction Symbols

• Miscellaneous Symbols