TINA SRIVASTAVA: Great.
Really great questions during the break.
So appreciate that.
Thanks.
So this morning we started off with,
you know, how airplanes fly.
And Phillip talked you through the aircraft systems
and what's going on inside an airplane that's
helping that airplane function.
This afternoon we're really going to focus on navigation.
So we're going to talk about charts and airspace.
And we're going to talk about the flight environment
and how you navigate through it.
So let's get started with charts and airspace.
So aeronautical charts, they kind of help you
out with where you're going.
So there are actually a number of electronic charts.
So there are a couple of websites.
So skyvector.com is a great website
that shows these charts.
There's a search bar so you can type in an airport,
for example.
And it'll zoom right in to that chart.
You can also get some apps.
And I'm going to pass around my iPad.
There is a program called Foreflight.
So how many people have used Foreflight before?
So just a handful of you.
So there are a lot of different software.
And Garmin has great software, too.
I'm not really recommending any over the other,
but this just happens to be on my iPad.
I take this with me when I go flying.
And so I have the app pulled up.
So you can basically move around and look at the map.
And then I have a physical map that I will also pass around.
Which this particular map is a VFR sectional map.
So VFR is for visual flight rules,
as opposed to IFR, which is instrument flight rules.
It will have a whole talk just on instrument flight rules
later.
But for now, when you start flying
you start with visual flight rules, which
means that you can look outside the airplane,
there are no clouds obscuring your view.
And so this is a very giant and unwieldy document
to have in your plane while you're flying.
And so this is why I don't carry this in the plane
and I instead carry the iPad.
But this sectional, there are actually different parts
across the US where there are very busy areas
with lots of airports.
And so they have these sectional maps.
So a section of the United States.
And you can look at those.
And so I'm going to pass this around
as we talk through the slides, which
zoom in to various parts of this for you to take a look at.
OK, so I think the most important part
of the sectional chart is the legend.
And it basically answers all the questions
that you're going to get on your exam about it, which asks you
what all of these different do-hickies are.
So we'll zoom in to a particular part.
So this is about an airport.
So there's a lot of different data contained.
And it can be a little bit overwhelming.
So when you look at that chunk of text and data,
you really can just look at a sectional chart's legend
to tell you what all of that means.
So this is the chunk of text, numbers, and letters
that you would see on a sectional chart.
And then over here it explains what they are.
So you can see what each thing is.
So ATIS over here, which it's nicely defined over here,
so you don't have to memorize anything--
Automatic Terminal Information Service,
the ATIS, which is what provides weather information.
We'll have a whole talk just about weather information
and radar comms and air traffic control.
But you can see here that there is a frequency, 123.8.
So that's telling you that in order
to get the weather information for that particular airport,
you'd turn to the frequency 123.8
and you can hear what the weather is.
There's a lot of other data on here.
So for example, it tells you some Automated Surface Weather
or ASOS, 135.42.
So you know that you can contact that frequency
if you want to get the Automated Weather Service.
So a lot of this data is listed there.
So we won't go through everything,
because it is nicely defined in the legend.
Another area we'll focus on are just
what do airports look like.
So over here is the part of the sectional
that has Boston Logan Airport.
So you see all these lines that are outlined in blue.
So if you look over at the legend,
it describes exactly what that means.
So having these lines outlined in blue, hard surfaced
runways greater than 8,000 feet.
And so it just tells you exactly what that information is.
And smaller airports with shorter runways
have these circles with lines.
And the lines are generally trying to depict the runway.
And so the line here will generally
be aligned with what the direction of the runway is.
And when there are two lines, that generally
is representing two runways.
So this down here in the bottom right corner
is a hand scan of Bedford.
And so you can see the two crossing runways here depicted
here.
So continuing along, there are also abandoned airports.
So the actual airport has a X on it.
And then you'll also see this X through the circle
to represent that it's an abandoned place.
So it still might be a good option if there's an emergency
and you're really looking for a place to land.
But it's not a good idea if you have the ability
to get to a functioning open airport where
you know the runways clear.
Other information that is provided in these charts
and sectionals are whether or not fuel is available
and what are the operating times of the tower.
Because all that information changes very frequently,
those sectional charts have to be updated.
So that particular sectional that I'm passing around
is out of date.
They get out of date very quickly.
For Foreflight, you can constantly download new maps.
So before you fly, you kind of download everything
and it refreshes, and then you have it good to go.
Another thing that a sectional chart is really good for
is identifying obstacles.
So these are the kind of descriptions of a tower,
for example, or more than one a group of obstructions.
And so it kind of tells you that there is an obstruction.
So in the bottom right corner, we
see there's an obstruction right here with this little triangle.
And then it has two numbers.
So it has 796.
And then it has (335).
Now, it explains in words what that means.
So the top number is the elevation
above the mean sea level.
And then the one in parentheses is the height above ground.
Now, the way I like to remember it, it's a little bit morbid,
but it really helps you remember it,
is the number on top is the altitude that
will be indicated on your altimeter
if you hit the top of the obstacle.
And then the number in parentheses
is how far you will fall to hit the ground.
So that's a good way of remembering
what those two numbers are and what's the difference.
So any questions about sectional charts
before I move on to airspace?
Yes?
AUDIENCE: On the previous slide, you
were talking about the blue outline.
But then there was a red outline.
TINA SRIVASTAVA: Yes, so the question was
about blue versus red outlines.
That's in fact answered directly by different types of airspace.
So it's a great transition.
So I'll move straight into that.
So there are different types of airspace.
And they're labeled with these letters.
So in aviation speak, just to make
sure we're being clear instead of saying B, we say bravo.
Because we don't want to get confused
did you say B, or C, or D?
So you say Bravo.
So we have these different types of airspace.
So uncontrolled airspace is Class G or Class Golf.
And then you have the controlled airspace.
So Class A, Class Bravo, Class Charlie, et cetera.
And then there's some special use airspace.
So the short answer is the different colors
of blue and purple represent different types of airspace,
as well as different classes of airspace,
and can represent whether you're close to certain types
of airports.
So the way to think about airspace--
now, there's a lot going on in this map.
I agree with you-- but there are a bunch
of circles that are going on.
Well, one thing to keep in mind is
that each circle is actually operating
at a particular elevation.
And so one way to think about it is that airspace
is three dimensional and a lot of people
think about it as a wedding cake,
as an upside down wedding cake.
And the reason they think about it
that way is that usually around a particular airport,
like Boston Logan Airport, there is restricted airspace, right?
They don't want you to just fly through
because you could interfere with commercial traffic that's
landing there.
So they want you to have certain restrictions when
you're close to an airport.
So the reason it looks like an upside down wedding cake
is that when airplanes are being sequenced to come in,
they're usually at pretty high altitudes
because they've been flying across the country.
So the restrictions on the airspace start high up.
So you can actually fly underneath the Class Bravo
airspace.
So if you're flying on this side,
so we show kind of to the left, you
can be underneath the Class Bravo airspace.
And the restricted space can be above you.
But as you get closer to the airport,
the restricted airspace goes all the way down
to the ground, right, to the surface.
So it touches the ground around the airport
because that's where the airplanes are landing.
So that's why it's like a layer of the wedding
cake that is lower and lower until it touches the ground.
Does that makes sense?
Great.
OK, so here's a specific answer to the question
you were talking about--
there are all kinds of different lines.
What do they mean?
So if you see a solid blue line, that
represents Class Bravo airspace.
So that's like the airspace around Boston Logan Airport
is Class Bravo.
So you'll see a solid blue line.
And the solid magenta line is Class Charlie airspace,
which is for a usually slightly less busy airport.
We'll define it in a moment.
But you might have seen other lines,
which are kind of these big fat kind of faded lines lower down.
And so that really depends.
It usually is denoting some form of Class E airspace.
And depending on where it is, it is
in effect different altitudes.
And we'll dive into those minimums and descriptions
in just a moment.
So let's start at the top at Class A airspace.
So this is very high up.
Pretty much as a private pilot in a single engine airplane,
you're never going to encounter this Class
A airspace, because it starts at 18,000 feet.
So it's pretty high up.
So pretty much only big jets, commercial jets,
fly at that altitude.
In order to fly into that altitude,
you actually have to have your instrument flight rating.
And we're going to have a whole lecture devoted just
to instrument flight training.
But really what it means is that you
could be flying through clouds where
you can't see outside the airplane
to avoid other airplanes and you're just
relying on your instruments.
It requires also a lot more precision.
That when you say that you're at 20,000 feet,
you have to be at 20,000 feet.
You can't drift off to 21,000 feet.
You have to stay put.
And the reason is that when you're flying the instrument,
you're relying on the air traffic controllers
to sequence you.
And so they have multiple airplanes in the same space.
And they're basically depending that you'll
be able to hold the altitude that they
give you and the heading that they give you.
And they might put another airplane relatively
close to you, but they know that you
can both fly very well and accurately so you're not
going to hit each other.
So they have all kinds of airplanes up in the Class Alpha
or Class A airspace.
In fact, the pro tip is that most people just
call it Class A even though you're supposed to say Alpha.
Phillip talked a little bit about the altimeter setting
and how the actual altimeter setting
can vary from where you are.
But since you have big jets that are traveling very quickly
and they might cross multiple places with different altimeter
settings, in Class A airspace, you actually
have everybody using the exact same altimeter setting, 29.92.
And that way everybody is viewing the same altitude
as the other person at the same height
so that everyone can make sure not to hit each other.
And when anyone is supposed to be at 18,000,
they're at the same altitude as the people around them.
OK, the next is Class Bravo.
This is a lot more relevant to something
that you might encounter.
So over here, it's right around Boston Logan Airport.
We heard Meenakshi talk about her time talking
to JFK at Kennedy Tower right around New York.
All of the busy airports have Class Bravo.
So the way to remember Bravo is Bravo is busiest.
So the busiest airports are Class Bravo.
You actually have to have an explicit clearance to enter.
Someone has to say you're cleared through the Bravo.
If they don't tell you you're cleared through the Bravo,
you're not allowed to enter that airspace.
Even after you get your solo and you're a student pilot,
you have to have a specific endorsement.
Again, endorsement is a signature by your instructor
that says you're allowed to enter that particular airspace.
Your aircraft also requires specific equipment.
And in particular, it needs a Mode C transponder,
which basically helps to identify more accurately where
the aircraft is.
And then we talked about this upside down wedding cake.
So typically right in the middle of the wedding cake,
right around the airport, it's from the surface
to 10,000 feet.
But it goes out wider starting at a higher altitude.
So right here near Logan Airport,
for example, there are parts of it
where the Class Bravo doesn't start until 3,000 feet.
So if you fly at 2,500 feet, you can fly right
underneath the Class Bravo.
You don't have to get clearance to fly there.
And if you accidentally fly too high
and you go through that 3,000 foot barrier,
it's called busting the Bravo, and you're in big trouble,
and don't do that.
OK, so again, Boston Logan Airport is right in the middle.
And then the rings going around it
show the different rising altitudes.
So how do you know what the altitude is?
So right in the center, it has a 70 and then
a line that says SFC.
So SFC means surface.
So right in the center of the circle,
it goes down to the surface.
And then you see now the number change to 20.
So you can go up to 2,000 feet.
And out here, 30.
So that means if you're at 3,000 feet,
up to 7,000 feet is where the restriction is.
Below 3,000 feet, you're OK.
OK, so now is Class Charlie.
So they are also busy airports, but they're not quite as busy
as the Class Bravo airports.
So for example, Manchester, New Hampshire, Providence,
Rhode Island.
Here you're required to establish two-way radio
communication, where they actually
know the tail number of your aircraft.
So every aircraft has a number.
If it's a US aircraft, it usually has an N or November
at the beginning.
So you know, November 535, you know, Alpha Bravo.
And so you actually have to say what your tail number is.
So in this example, 808 Whiskey Tango.
But if you just say I'm an aircraft five
miles to the south, they haven't identified you in particular.
So that doesn't count as establishing
the two-way communication.
But once you have established two-way communication
with the controller, you can enter
without a specific clearance to enter the Class Charlie
airspace.
So here's an example of that.
So we have the airport in the middle.
And now we have magenta lines instead of blue lines
because it's a Class Charlie airspace instead of Class Bravo
airspace.
So Class Delta, one of the airports
we've been talking about, Hanscom, also known as Bedford,
is a Class Delta airport.
And so here you have to establish two-way radio
communication as well.
It's indicated by a dashed blue line.
So this is an example of Worcester airport.
And you can see the dash blue circle around the airport.
OK, now Class E airspace is when you start
getting a little complicated.
So it's not necessarily related to a particular airport.
And it really applies to just other controlled airspace
around.
And the reason that they have this airspace
is to define certain weather restrictions.
So how close and far you can be from clouds,
what the visibility needs to be in order for you
to fly in these environments.
So it can be indicated in a lot of different ways.
It gets very confusing.
So we have both magenta blurry lines and blue blurry lines.
And the legend, of course, is your friend.
It defines exactly what it means and why it's a different color.
And you can see those throughout.
So sometimes like when we were flying to Bar Harbor
as we talked about earlier along the coastline,
you might see those restrictions or around a small airport.
So now let's zoom back out this big picture.
You might see a whole bunch of things
going on in the sectionals that are coming around the room.
It looks very complicated.
But now you kind of know what the little dots mean.
You also see some yellow.
The yellow indicates a congested area.
So there might be like dense population over there.
So that's relevant, because you're not
supposed to fly low over a congested area.
But it's also helpful when you're flying around
to identify where you are, that, oh, OK, I'm
over a city versus I'm over just some fields.
There are also airways on those sectionals and maps being
passed around, which are indicated
by these kind of blue lines with an arrow on it with a heading.
So what I mean by heading is like if it says 132 degrees.
And so these airways are places that sometimes an airplane gets
told to follow a particular airway,
might be the fastest way to get from one place to another.
So here's an example of an airway on the sectional.
You can see these blue lines kind of cutting across.
And then another relatively confusing airspace
is this Class Gulf airspace.
And it basically is uncontrolled airspace.
You can do whatever you want.
You might see this over a desert.
You won't see any of this in the Northeast.
There are too many airports and too many things going on.
But in the middle of the country or in certain places
that are not as populated, you'll
see this uncontrolled airspace.
And you can do whatever you want.
So the memory aid here is Golf means go for it.
So here's the summary.
So Class Bravo is that upside down wedding cake.
And then you get the Class Charlie, Class Delta.
And then Class E is kind of everywhere
that doesn't have other restrictions.
And then Class Golf is unrestricted.
Now each of those types of airspace-- so A, B, C,
D-- they all have some specific requirements associated
with them.
So for example, we talked about in Class
A airspace you have to be instrument rated.
In Class Bravo airspace, you might
need to get a special endorsement
to be able to fly there.
Then the entry requirements.
So Class Golf is go for it.
You can fly in Class Golf airspace
without talking to anyone about anything.
You just take off and you fly.
Whereas we talked about, for example,
Class Bravo where you need explicit clearance
to enter the airspace.
And then come all of the visibility or minimums,
as they talk about.
These are prime candidates for the FAA exam,
because they're just things you basically have to remember.
So Class A airspace, you already have
to have an instrument rating, which means,
hey, there can be instrument conditions,
which means it can be cloudy, you could be flying in a cloud.
So there's no specific visibility requirement.
There could be zero visibility and you could be flying.
So that's why it says N/A for all of the Class A visibility.
But on the other ones, there are some more restrictions.
And so for example, when you're in Class Bravo airspace,
you have to remain clear of clouds.
The reason that they don't have more stringent restriction,
you know, that you have to be 1,000 miles away from a cloud
is because they're really watching
everybody in that airspace and moving them around.
So they can generally make sure that there
isn't an airplane in a cloud that's
about to pop out and hit you.
You're already aware of all the other aircraft.
Whereas when you have less control
and they're not air traffic controllers necessarily talking
to everyone, they want to make you
stay farther away from a cloud.
Because if you're in a cloud, if you're near a cloud,
you may not see an aircraft that's
on the other side of the cloud.
And then you could have a collision.
So there's also a fair amount of special use airspace.
So there's restricted areas.
Oh, yes.
Go ahead?
AUDIENCE: How do you know how far away you are from a cloud?
TINA SRIVASTAVA: That's a great question,
how do you know how far you are from a cloud?
There's no good way to know.
You're just supposed to guesstimate really
by looking outside the window and looking at the cloud.
If you're near an airport, then you
might know what the runway length is.
So you can use that to kind of gauge distances.
But there isn't a hard and fast rule
of knowing how far you are from a cloud.
AUDIENCE: What do you mean?
TINA SRIVASTAVA: Well, clear of clouds is really easy.
You just don't go in the cloud.
I would say there is not a very good way
of knowing whether you're 1,000 feet or 2,000 feet away
from a cloud.
In general, I use those as guidance
that, OK, I should basically stay as far away
from the clouds as possible.
So if there's a cloud near me, I'll turn off course.
Whereas if it's just clear of clouds,
I'm willing to come right underneath that cloud.
Good question.
OK, so restricted area.
So some restricted areas, restricted areas
are either hot or on, or they're cold and they're not active.
So you only have to avoid a restricted area if it's hot.
So if you're already in communication with air traffic
control, you could just ask them if a particular restricted area
is active or not.
There are also some prohibited areas,
like over president's houses.
And then there are temporary flight restrictions, or TFRs.
And they can be very complicated.
We'll talk about a couple in particular.
So around the stadium, you're not supposed to fly there.
Around Disney World, you're not supposed
to fly low over Disney World.
And sometimes if the president is traveling somewhere,
there will be a temporary flight restriction.
And it might not tell you that it's the president.
It might just say a VIP is in the areas.
So you're not allowed to fly.
And then there's certain areas that you just
have to proceed with caution, but you're allowed to enter.
So alert areas, military operation areas,
and other warning areas.
You just want to be especially alert
when you're in those spaces.
And then, again, you have a whole bunch more blue
and magenta lines that mean different things that basically
describe all of the different types of environments
that we talked about.
So I think the one you're most likely to encounter
is this one that's very close to Minuteman Airport.
So this is really just west of Hanscom.
There's a small area there.
It's not usually active.
But if it is, it's one that you want to keep an eye out.
And then we talked about TFRs--
the Temporary Flight Restrictions.
There are some that are unpublished.
So over stadiums or over football games,
sometimes you won't see those published in advance.
But in general, it's a good idea to be aware
when you're going over a stadium not to be too low over it.
There are a lot of different resources to dive in.
We already talked about Sky Vector.
There are a bunch of different options here.
And we're seeing that going around.
Just so I can see where it is, who has the iPad?
Oh, that made its way pretty far.
And then the sectional I see over there.
So we'll keep it passing around all afternoon.
So just a couple practice questions
to keep us on our toes, which statement about longitude
and latitude is true?
OK, so A, B, or C. Shout it out.
B. All right, that's correct.
One rule I have, a thumb, that helps
me is that you think of longitude versus latitude,
which one goes in which direction,
latitude is horizontal.
And I think of latitude, it sounds
like "fatitude" or being fat.
And so your horizontal.
So anyway, longitude are the vertical lines.
So they cross the equator at right angles.
So I'll leave this to somebody that has a sectional
or has seen the sectional.
Let's see if you can answer this question referring
to one of those legends.
AUDIENCE: So another one for latitude is a bunch of ladders.
It sounds like a ladder.
TINA SRIVASTAVA: Oh, that's great.
So in the back, we got know another way
of remembering latitude.
So you said latitude sounds like a ladder.
So it looks like steps of a ladder.
So that's why they're horizontal.
That's a great idea.
Thanks.
AUDIENCE: Also, longitude goes the long way around.
Latitude, at the poles, is shorter.
TINA SRIVASTAVA: Yeah, so that was that longitude
goes the long way around.
Where as latitude, sometimes, especially at the poles,
is shorter.
Very good ones.
Thanks.
So I'll ask, I guess, the 30 or 40 or so
of you who have already seen the sectional,
to be the ones to guess this one.
So A, B, or C?
C. All right, good job.
Very good.
So these, if you take a look at the legend on those maps,
for the rest of you, as it comes around,
it should be more clear.