An aeronautical chart is a

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

designed to assist in the

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

, much as

nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

s do for watercraft, or a roadmap does for drivers. Using these charts and other tools,

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s are able to determine their position, safe altitude, best route to a destination, navigation aids along the way, alternative landing areas in case of an in-flight emergency, and other useful information such as

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

frequencies and

airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as outer space which is t ...

boundaries. There are charts for all land masses on Earth, and long-distance charts for trans-oceanic travel. Specific charts are used for each phase of a flight and may vary from a map of a particular airport facility to an overview of the instrument routes covering an entire continent (e.g., global navigation charts), and many types in between. Visual flight charts are categorized according to their scale, which is proportional to the size of the area covered by one map. The amount of detail is necessarily reduced when larger areas are represented on a map. *

World aeronautical chart A World Aeronautical Chart (WAC) was a type of aeronautical chart used for navigation by pilots of moderate speed aircraft and aircraft at high altitudes in the United States. They are at a scale of 1:1,000,000 (about 1 inch = 13.7 nautical miles ...

s (WACs) have a scale of 1:1,000,000 and cover relatively large areas. Outside of WAC coverage, operational navigation charts (ONC) may be used. They use the same scale as WACs, but omit some useful information such as airspace restrictions. *

Sectional chart In United States aviation, a sectional aeronautical chart, often called a sectional chart or a sectional for short, is a type of aeronautical chart designed for air navigation under visual flight rules (VFR). In Australia, Canada and some other ...

s typically cover a total area of about 340x340 miles, printed on both sides of the map. The scale is 1:500,000. * VFR

terminal area chart In United States and Canada aviation, terminal area charts are aeronautical charts intended for navigation under Visual Flight Rules that depict areas surrounding major airports, primarily those with Class B airspace. Overview Like the VFR sect ...

s are created with a scale and coverage appropriate for the general vicinity of a large airport (1:250,000). They may depict preferred VFR flight routes within areas of congested airspace.

Use under instrument flight rules

When an aircraft is flying under

instrument flight rules In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fl ...

(IFR), the pilot will often have no visual reference to the ground, and must therefore rely on external (e.g.

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

or VOR) aids in order to navigate. Although in some situations

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

may issue radar vectors to direct an aircraft's path, this is usually done to facilitate traffic flow, and will not be the sole means of navigating to an important point, such as the position from which an aircraft commences its approach to landing. Charts used for IFR flights contain an abundance of information regarding locations of

waypoint A waypoint is a point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point, an intermediate point, or point at which course is changed, the first use of the term tracing to 1880. In modern terms, it most often refers to coordinates which spe ...

s, known as " fixes", which are defined by measurements from electronic beacons of various types, as well as the routes connecting these waypoints. Only limited topographic information is found on IFR charts, although the minimum safe altitudes available on the routes are shown. En-route low- and high-altitude charts are published with a scale that depends upon the density of navigation information required in the vicinity. Information from IFR charts is often programmed into a

flight management system A flight management system (FMS) is a fundamental component of a modern airliner's avionics. An FMS is a specialized computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that mod ...

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...

, which eases the task of following (or deviating from) a flight plan. Terminal procedure publications such as

standard terminal arrival In aviation, a standard terminal arrival route (STAR) is a published flight procedure followed by aircraft on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan just before reaching a destination airport. A STAR is an air traffic control (ATC)-coded ...

plates,

standard instrument departure Standard instrument departure (SID) routes are published flight procedures followed by aircraft on an IFR flight plan immediately after takeoff from an airport. SIDs are one of the two types of departure procedures (DP); the other type being Ob ...

plates and other documentation provide detailed information for arrival, departure and taxiing at each approved airport having instrument capabilities of some sort.

Sources for charts

Aeronautical charts may be purchased at

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

s (FBOs),

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

supply sources, or catalogs of aeronautical gear. They may also be viewed online from the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

References

External links

SkyVector Aeronautical Charts online & Flight Plan

FAA Aeronautical Chart User's Guide
at

website
open flightmaps - high quality VFR maps
{{Authority control Air navigation

Use under instrument flight rules

Sources for charts

See also

References

External links