Legends

It's a good idea to spend some quality time with local sectional charts before you fly to a new destination. If you're taking a long trip, chances are that if you look hard enough, you'll find something you've never seen before. And although chart legends provide plenty of useful information, from time to time you'll run into a symbol that doesn't appear in the legend. On those rare occasions when you can't find the answers you need on the chart, try the Aeronautical Chart User's Guide, which is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. inistration.

If you still can't find the answer, try calling an airport that's located near the site and asking what the unknown symbol represents. More often than not, a local flight instructor or pilot will be more than happy to tell you what is in the area. While you're on the telephone, be sure to ask about special flying and weather conditions in the surrounding region. Some terrain features, such as canyons, mountains, or lakes, can create special hazards such as locally strong winds, turbulence, or small areas of dense fog. Pilots who are familiar with the area can warn you about such conditions ahead of time so you aren't confronted with a nasty surprise.

Of course, most charted items are basically benign to pilots. Just south of Miami near Dade County Homestead Regional Airport, the chart shows a dense mass of nearly even lines arranged in roughly rectangular grids. While this symbol is not explained anywhere on the chart, local pilots are happy to tell you that it represents a series of cooling canals for a nearby power plant. Once you know what the lines represent, you'll notice twin stacks immediately to the north. The area makes an unmistakable landmark for VFR pilots, especially when they know what they're looking at.