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 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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 ...

, terminal area charts are

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 ...

s intended for navigation under

Visual Flight Rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better ...

that depict areas surrounding major airports, primarily those with Class B airspace.

Overview

Like the VFR

sectional chart {{short description, Type of aeronautical chart In United States aviation, a sectional chart, often called a sectional for short, is a type of aeronautical chart designed for air navigation under visual flight rules (VFR). In Australia, Canada an ...

s that they complement, terminal area charts depict topographic features and other information of interest to aviators flying visually, including major landmarks, terrain elevations, visual navigation routes, ground-based navigation aids, airports, rivers, cities, and airspace boundaries. TACs are more detailed than sectional charts, and are scaled at 1:250,000 (as opposed to 1:500,000 for sectional charts) to permit inclusion of more detail. TACs contain information on approach, departure, and transition rules and procedures for the congested Class B areas around major airports. Terminal area charts for the USA are maintained and published by the United States

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 ...

, and by commercial enterprises (notably

Jeppesen Jeppesen (also known as Jeppesen Sanderson) is an American company offering navigational information, operations planning tools, flight planning products and software. Jeppesen's aeronautical navigation charts are often called "Jepp charts" or s ...

) that produce equivalent, certified charts, often with some added value over the government charts, but with a higher price. The reverse side of a paper copy of the TAC often provides a

flyway chart A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrat ...

, a simplified chart that shows preferred VFR routes through the area covered by the TAC. TACs are updated at six-month intervals. Historically, they were called local aeronautical charts.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* /www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/vfr/ VFR Terminal Area Raster Aeronautical Charts- Current charts from the FAA Air traffic control in the United States Air traffic control in Canada Map types Air navigation Aeronautical charts

Overview

See also

References

External links