airspace/sectional mnemonics for aspiring H3 and XC pilots

[brianvh]

I was always annoyed at how arbitrary the airspace designations and sectional symbols were. Then someone at the local New York club gave a talk that started to bring some coherence. I've extended it to the nth degree. Hopefully this will be useful to those about to take the H3 test or starting to get serious about XC.

Big Picture: we go from big airspace starting with class A way above it all to
smaller airspace ending with class G near the ground.

Class A - A_bove everything else (starting at 18,000 MSL), it's the airspace
Airplanes Aspire to fly in (notice all the 'A's). Since the big airplanes
cruise at or above this boundary, we have to stay out.

Class B - B_lue solid lines, Below class A. This is the Biggest upside down
wedding cake (3 levels), for the Busiest airports (notice all the 'B's!). We
cannot fly over or in class B. Top and bottom AGL altitudes are marked for each
level, but you'll have to add a couple zeros.

Class C - sorry, you just have to remember C comes after class B. Solid magenta
line. No special way to remember except it looks very much like class B, but
smaller (2 levels). Otherwise all class B descriptions apply.

Class D - D_ashed line. Shaped like D battery. The dashed line makes it look
porous, for we are allowed to fly over it (typically 2500 AGL top).

Class E - E_nvironment we like to fly in if we climb out. Typically from 1200
AGL to 18000 MSL where class A begins. The bottom will change according to
class G. This is where we have to have major cloud clearance (500 feet below,
2000 feet beside, etc) because we share this with general aviation.

Class G - G_round space. Typically from ground to 1200 feet AGL, but if you see
a spongy purple boundary, inside it will go to only 700 AGL. Most of our
launches are in class G, and all our landings. Since your LZ is fixed but clouds
are not, the cloud restrictions are relaxed to say you just can't be inside a
cloud and must have 1 mile visibility. This makes a cloud dive legal if you go
through a hole in the clouds and have clear visible reference of where you are
headed. Of course nobody would even consider entering a cloud on a cloud dive,
right?

Spongy purple boundaries: see class G above.

Other stuff:

Compass rose is just a radio directional beacon, we don't have to worry about
it.

Prohibited airspace looks more like a P_orcupine turned outside in. Nobody can
fly there unless they're commissioned to shoot down everyone else. You wouldn't
want to be inside an inside-out porcupine, would you?

[bustedwing2]

Thanks Brian,I'll print this,maybe I'll pass the test next time. Rich(duh)B

[Matthew]

Magenta is also Cherry.

Matthew

[mcelrah]

Thanks for this. But why can't we fly over the top of class B/C? Or are you just saying it is unlikely we could transit the area that high (10,000 for the Washington one)? - Hugh

[brianvh]

Ooo - I was scratching my head for 'C', thanks Matthew!

Hugh - I think it's what you say: we can't be trusted to fly over something that big and high. When I brought that point up the guy who was giving the talk gave some other reason which didn't make sense so I don't remember.

For me the lightbulb moments during the talk was when he made arm gestures: up and wide for A, smaller and lower for B, etc. Then he said 'B' for 'Busy'. I took it from there and with Matt's help we now have a complete mnemonic and can end the traditional H3 tests scores in the mid 80 percent range - roughly 10% of the H3 test is airspace, the part most people miss.

[brianvh]

misconstrued Hugh's question. It appears to the the regulation, not just sage advice. No flyovers of B and C by part 103 aircraft. The reason the guy gave (and he was just guessing) was that radar displays are 2 dimensional, so you don't want any extra blips on the screen. Sure, you can get altitude displayed, but it's still extra clutter a controller should not have to deal with.

[brianvh]

Okay, looks like we can legally fly above B/C airspace. Ryan Voight says it's fairly common in Utah.

[stevek]

Very good! Now you have to explain the offside rule in soccer

[mcelrah]

Same answer as for air traffic control: you put transponding chips in/on the players and have the computer determine when offside (more than 2 players ahead of the ball) has occurred... - Hugh

[mcelrah]

It's kinda like religious fundamentalists: sometimes people make up more restrictive rules than it actually says in the Book. - Hugh