FAA Airspace for VFR Flight

hey vince riley here cfi double i rotor wing and fixed wing today's topic is going to be air space whether you're getting ready for your private pilot check ride preparing for a bi-annual flight review or just want to brush up this video will not only give you an easy way to remember which airspace is where but will also help you remember your visibility and cloud clearance requirements the designation of and altitudes of airspace we'll cover can be found in faa regulations part 71 the first airspace we'll talk about real quick really doesn't apply to vfr flight that's class a airspace and it begins at eighteen thousand feet all the way up to flight level six zero zero which is basically sixty thousand feet to fly into class a airspace you have to have an ifr clearance next we'll talk about class e airspace a good way to remember where e airspace is is to just remember it's everywhere from the bottom of class airspace all the way down to 1200 feet agl all across the united states with a few exceptions and around some airports which have approach procedures it goes down to 700 feet agl everywhere below class e airspace starting at the surface is class g one important thing to remember about class e airspace is there's a delineation at ten thousand feet msl which changes visibility and cloud clearance requirements all the cloud clearance and visibility requirements can be found on a chart in section 91.155 here's an example of the chart basically i just cut off the bottom half which is where most of the confusion comes from when talking about airspace and cloud clearance requirements so we're going to talk about it for a moment because this is where most people get confused to begin with there's a small section for helicopters well their special kind of people bless their hearts so we're not going to talk about that right now below that is another section which is a remainder of the days gone by that talks about more than twelve hundred feet above the surface but less than ten thousand feet msl and as far as i know i haven't been able to find any of these areas on the current vfr sectionals since 2017. so for now just ignore it and what i want you to remember is cessna 152 we're going to talk about that in just a minute the next area below that talks about being more than 1200 feet above the surface and at or above 10 000 feet msl again i know of no areas where this applies in current vfr sectional chart the thing i want you to remember here is f-111 as in f-111 aardvark bomber additional confusion about class g airspace comes from the chart supplement guide and current charts which still show shaded blue areas in the legend and talk about class e above 1200 feet agl again i haven't been able to find that on any of the modern maps as you'll see in the current vfr sectional charts it's the shaded magenta area that's where it goes down to 700 feet if you're feeling nostalgic about the old days here's an example which comes from the salt lake vfr sectional from 1971 it shows both magenta and blue designated class e areas there were actually vfr corridors above 1200 feet and other areas through the mountains to allow pilots to fly vfr but again those have all been removed from the map if you can find one please put it in the comments below and let me know where you found it since i already showed you the chart from part 91 i want to talk about class g airspace first at some point in your flying career you're probably going to hear a question that sounds a lot like this your dpe or instructor will point to a spot on a vfr sectional and ask what is the visibility and cloud clearance requirements when your brother's cousin's aunt three times removed is drunk flying her grocery cart vfr at ten thousand one hundred feet this is an easy question and here's how you'll remember it any time you're less than twelve hundred feet agl regardless of the msl altitude your visibility requirement is one statute mile clear of clouds and at night time it's three statute miles visibility with basic cloud clearance and we're going to talk about what basic cloud clearance is in just a minute so we don't need to talk about cloud clearance and visibility requirements in class a airspace because that's only for ifr traffic so remember class e airspace is everywhere down to 1200 feet agl and around some airports down to 700 feet agl or the surface so now let's add in our class g airspace our class c airspace our class d airspace and class b airspace and our surface area class e let's add a few clouds because we're going to talk about our visibility and cloud clearance requirements first we'll talk about class e air space above 10 000 feet msl and remember i said to remember f-111 so above 10 000 feet msl your visibility requirements is five statute miles while cloud clearance requirements these were the ones come from in the f-111 1000 feet below 1000 feet above and one statute mile horizontally f111 is five mile visibility a thousand below a thousand above and one statute mile horizontal so below ten thousand feet msl is where we get cessna 152 and this applies to all controlled air space below 10 000 feet msl with one exception and we'll talk about that in just a minute below 10 000 feet you're required to maintain three statute miles visibility and basic cloud clearance the c and the cessna 152 the third letter of the alphabet help you remember the three statute miles cloud clearance is 500 feet below 1000 above and 2000 feet horizontal again that's where cessna 152 comes from this cloud clearance is referred to as basic cloud clearance that's how you're going to remember your visibility and cloud clearance requirements below 10 000 feet msl you just have to remember where to put each of the numbers the class g airspace visibility and cloud clearance requirement during the day is one statute mile clear of clouds at night it's cessna 152 just like the rest of controlled airspace three statute miles and basic cloud clearance so what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in class c airspace that's right cessna 152. so what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in class d airspace you're right again cessna so what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in surface e airspace when it's active that's right cessna 152 so what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in class b airspace well here's the exception it's still three statute miles but it's clear of clouds in other words you can be a foot outside the cloud and meet the requirements for class b airspace the reason for this is because to enter class b airspace first of all you have to have a clearance and second they'll tell you to maintain vfr and lastly you have a transponder with adsb so they will know exactly where you are to keep you clear of ifr traffic and to give you traffic advisories it's really that simple in controlled airspace below 10 000 feet msl it's cessna 152 3 miles visibility and basic cloud clearance with the exception of class b airspace which is clear of clouds in class g airspace at night it reverts to the same requirements so really you only have to remember f111 cessna 152 and then one mile clear of clouds during the day for class g and then in class b again clear of clouds so let's test what we've learned let's say you're right here at 800 feet agl what type of airspace are you in and what is your visibility and cloud clearance requirement if you said class g airspace you're correct and your visibility and cloud clearance requirements during the day right one mile in clear clouds how about for night three miles and basic cloud clearance 500 below 1000 above and 2000 horizontal okay well what if you're right here at 3600 feet msl what type of airspace are you in and what are your visibility and cloud clearance requirements remember the vfr sectional tells you just about everything you need to know about controlled airspace the bottom of the class b airspace in this area begins at seven thousand feet the top of the class d airspace ends at 3500 feet msl if you said class e airspace you're right and your visibility in cloud clearance requirements that's right three miles and basic cloud clearance how about if you're right here at 12 000 feet msl what type of airspace are you in and what is your visibility and cloud clearance requirements that's right class b airspace and your visibility and cloud clearance requirements i hope you said three statute miles visibility and clear of clouds let's look at a few more examples what if you were here at 5100 msl what class of airspace are you in and what is your visibility and cloud clearance requirements remember the vfr sectional is very helpful and shows the top and bottom of this class c airspace correct class e airspace and what is your visibility in cloud clearance requirements correct again cessna 152 three statute miles visibility basic cloud clearance which is 500 feet below 1000 feet above and 2000 feet horizontally all right one more example what if you're right here at 11 000 feet in a cell what class airspace are you in and what are your visibility and cloud clearance requirements now you're getting it class e airspace above 10 000 feet msl and the visibility and cloud clearance requirements remember f-111 above 10 000 feet msl five miles visibility a thousand feet below a thousand feet above and one statute mile horizontally from any clouds if this was helpful please hit the like button subscribe and leave your comments below i'll also provide a link for two other videos i've made that discuss determining your position using a vor and load factor those are other areas that people really struggle with also if you'd like another topic discussed you can leave a suggestion in the comments below and i'll try and make a video for that too

Channel: Loves2Fly

Views: 567,221

Keywords: air space, faa, dpe, pvt, plt

Id: wYKI-4XKp1c

Length: 11min 49sec (709 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 17 2020