Reading sectional charts

The VFR sectional chart is the main map for VFR flying. Its scale is 1:500,000 (about 6.86 NM per inch), and it's updated every 56 days. Always use a current chart, paper or in an app.

Latitude, longitude and distance

Lines of latitude run east-west and measure north-south position; lines of longitude run north-south. Each degree is divided into 60 minutes. One minute of latitude equals 1 nautical mile, which makes the latitude scale on the side of the chart a handy ruler.

Airports

• Blue airport symbols have a control tower; magenta symbols don't.
• A symbol with tick marks around it has fuel and services available.
• The airport data block lists the name, identifier, tower or CTAF frequency, field elevation, lighting and the longest runway length (in hundreds of feet). A star means a rotating beacon. A "C" in a circle marks the CTAF.

Obstacles and terrain

Obstacles show two numbers: the top in bold is MSL and the number in parentheses is AGL. Colors show terrain elevation, getting browner as it gets higher.

In each latitude-longitude quadrangle, the big numbers are the maximum elevation figure (MEF), in thousands and hundreds of feet MSL. "8⁵" means 8,500 feet. It's based on the highest terrain or obstacle in that area, plus a margin. Flying above the MEF keeps you clear of everything in that quadrangle.

Other symbols to know

VORs (compass roses), airspace boundaries (Unit 7), victor airways (light blue lines with "V" numbers), military training routes, parachute jumping areas, and visual checkpoints like highways, rivers, towns and dams. The chart legend explains every symbol; on the checkride, examiners love to point at one and ask.