AT 209 Lab 9: Sectional Charts

Sectional charts are important for flight planning. In UAS, they are just as important. For Lab 9, the post will be set up a little differently. Instead of a method, discussion and conclusion sections, there will be scenarios that will be discussed. In each scenario, it will be discussed which type of airspace the area is within and which tower to contact with permission, if applicable. To better understand the sectional chart, the legend will be shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Above is all the types of symbols, scales and other pieces of information displayed within a sectional chart.

Scenario 1

For Scenario 1, approval was received to inspect the tower within the orange circle. Figure 2 pictures the area of the sectional chart that is being used.

Figure 3: The area of the sectional chart displays Newark, LaGuardia, JFK and Teterboro. 
  • Is approval needed to perform this operation? YES
    • Who does the approval need to come from? LaGuardia
      • The area is defined as a Class B airspace, which means an area of high traffic. The reason it being LaGuardia being contacted is because it is the closest airport located to that area. If the tower was across the river, then it would have to be resolved by Newark.
  • If there are potential hazards, what are they?
    • Manned aircraft, Buildings (Some with bright lights), Airports
  • Areas that must be avoided
    • Just northeast of the building that's being inspected there is a temporary flight restricted area. Since the area is restricted, it would be the best interest to avoid it at all costs
  • Areas that have a high concentration of manned aviation
    • Since it is located between three airports (Newark, LaGuardia, JFK, Teterboro), there would be manned aircraft coming in out of them constantly.

Below Figure 4 will show the same area of the sectional map but in a satellite image.

Figure 4: Above the orange circle shows the rough area of the tower under inspection.


Scenario 2

Scenario 2 involves using a fixed wing to create a map of Carrington Island. Figure 4 shows the area of the sectional chart used for the scenario. The orange circled area is the location of island.


Figure 4: Above is the airspace of the surrounding area.

  • Is approval needed to perform this operation? NO
    • If approval is not needed, why is it not needed?
      • The reason approval is not needed is because the island is outside of the Class B airspace surrounding the Salt Lake City airport.
  • If there are potential hazards, what are they?
    • Since the location is farther away from the airspace, manned aircraft should not be an issue like Scenario 1. Any potential hazards would have to be wildlife. In the case of running out of battery life or emergency landing, it must be noted that the island is indeed surrounded by the Great Salt Lake.
  • Areas that must be avoided
    • Directly west of the island is a restricted area. That area should be avoided at all times. R-6404 (A-D), as the area is named, is strictly reserved to the U.S. Air Force and may not be flown into.
  • Areas that have a high concentration of manned aviation
    • Areas close to Carrington Island with manned aviation would be the Salt Lake City airport. Other airports within the area would not receive much traffic, but it should be noted that Bolinder Tooele Valley is southwest of KSLC and Hillafb is directly north.

Figure 5 will now show the same sectional chart area as a satellite image.

Figure 5: The orange circle shows Carrington Island.

Scenario 3

The final scenario is doing a survey on one of the forests located on Fox Island. The orange highlighted area is the island, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Above is the busy airspace of the area in question.

  • Is approval needed to perform this operation? YES
    • Who does the approval need to come from?
      • Due to the proximity, approval would be needed from Tacoma Narrows airport. The airspace is a Class B, so it would need approval regardless.
  • If there are potential hazards, what are they?
    • Biggest concern would have to be manned aircraft. There are large amounts of land around the island, so any issues with flying would be easy to down the fixed wing.
  • Areas that must be avoided
    • The biggest areas to avoid are the surrounding airports, since there are not any restricted areas this time.
  • Areas that have a high concentration of manned aviation
    • The areas with the largest traffic are Tacoma Narrows, Gray AAF and Olympia Regional.
  • Obstacles that must be avoided
    • Directly north of the island there is an indicator of a tall land mass (Hill or mountain) that should be avoided; the only other obstacles would be Tacoma Narrows airport because of the manned aircraft.

Figure 7 shows the satellite image of the sectional chart.


Figure 7: The orange highlighted area is Fox Island.


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