An aeronautical chart is a map designed to assist in the navigation of aircraft, much as nautical charts do for watercraft, or a

roadmap A roadmap may refer to: *A road map, a form of map that details roads and transport links *A plan, e.g. **Road map for peace, to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict **Technology roadmap A technology roadmap is a flexible planning schedule ...

does for drivers. Using these charts and other tools, pilots 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 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 aerospace, which is the ...

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 Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

, 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) is a type of aeronautical chart used for navigation by pilots of moderate speed aircraft and aircraft at high altitudes. They are at a scale of 1:1,000,000 (about 1 inch = 13.7 nautical miles or 16 statute 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 charts 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 charts 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 (IFR), the pilot will often have no visual reference to the ground, and must therefore rely on external (e.g. GPS 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 airsp ...

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 waypoints, 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 an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

, which eases the task of following (or deviating from) a flight plan. Terminal procedure publications such as standard terminal arrival plates, standard instrument departure 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 instructio ...

s (FBOs),

internet The Internet (or internet) is the 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'' that consists ...

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

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

References

External links

SkyVector Aeronautical Charts online & Flight Plan

FAA Aeronautical Chart User's Guide
at

website {{Authority control Map types Air navigation Aeronautical charts

Use under instrument flight rules

Sources for charts

See also

References

External links