aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

, an en-route chart is an

aeronautical chart An aeronautical chart is a map designed to assist in the navigation of aircraft, much as nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show ...

that guides

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

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 Fly ...

(IFR) during the en-route phase of flight.

Overview

An en-route (also known as en route or enroute) chart provides detailed information useful for instrument flight, including information on

radionavigation Radio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determine a position of an object on the Earth, either the vessel or an obstruction. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination. The basic principles a ...

aids (navaids) such as VORs and NDBs, navigational fixes (

waypoint A waypoint is an intermediate point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping 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 specify one's posi ...

s and intersections), standard airways,

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

locations, minimum altitudes, and so on. Information not directly relevant to instrument navigation, such as visual landmarks and terrain features, is not included. En-route charts are divided into high and low versions, with information on airways and navaids for high- and low-altitude flight, respectively. The division between low altitude and high altitude is usually defined as the altitude that marks transition to

flight level In aviation and aviation meteorology, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude at standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. The air pressure is computed assuming an International Standard Atmosphere pressure of 1013.25 hPa ...

s (in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, this is taken to be 18,000 feet MSL by convention). Historically, they were called air navigation maps, airway maps, and flight charts.

References

Notes

Bibliography

IFR Enroute Aeronautical Charts and Planning
on

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 ...

website

External links

* Air traffic control {{aviation-stub