Preflight

Symbols that can help you find your way

For many of us, the greatest thing about earning a pilot certificate is the ability to hop in an airplane with family or friends and go somewhere - no waiting in lines at the airport, no beeping metal detectors, enjoying the ability to set your own schedule. The flexibility of general aviation travel, whether it's for personal or business purposes, can make it a personal time machine.

So why do some student pilots successfully solo airplanes, only to walk away from their flight training when it's time to fly their solo cross-countries? Can the fear of getting lost be that great?

Yes, it can - despite the flight instructor's best efforts. "An instructor wants his students to enjoy the solo cross-countries, not fear them," Budd Davisson observes in "Flight Training Revealed" (p. 20).

Instructors increasingly allow student pilots to use Global Positioning System receivers - many with big color moving-map displays - to help navigate on their solo cross-countries. Ground-based VOR and NDB transmitters supplement the satellite perspective. But every student learns how to navigate using the basics of pilotage and dead reckoning. "[That] combination will never become obsolete," notes Eli George in "Flying the Great Circle" (p. 46). Dead reckoning "gives the pilot a way out should electronic aids be unavailable, and flying by pilotage alone is not possible because the surface of the Earth is obscured."

Pilotage depends on good aeronautical chart skills - both knowing and being able to interpret sectional-chart symbology. Those abilities will be evaluated on the private pilot practical test, pilot examiner David Wilkerson reminds us in his column "Checkride: Airspace and Weather" (p. 67).

If you want to know more about the information contained on your VFR sectional aeronautical charts, get a copy of the Aeronautical Chart User's Guide. The FAA's National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO) issued the fifth edition of this publication last fall. (Flight instructors may recall when aeronautical charts were produced by the National Ocean Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce.)

The guide provides a wealth of information on both the aeronautical and topographic features shown on a chart - a lot more than can be included in the chart's small legend area. For example, a half-dozen varieties of railroad tracks are shown, including abandoned tracks. Why abandoned ones? From 2,000 or 3,000 feet agl, it can be nearly impossible to tell the difference between active and abandoned tracks.

How do cartographers determine the maximum elevation figures found in each grid on a sectional chart? That favorite question of pilot examiners is explained fully. There are two answers, depending on whether the highest obstacle is man-made or natural.

Enhancing your knowledge of chart symbols will help you to master the art of choosing checkpoints. Sooner or later you'll select a checkpoint that you can't identify from the air. Perhaps it was the intersection of two roads, but you looked down and saw several intersections. Unique topographical features like dams, locks, or breakwaters can be good choices if they're in the right place. Look for something that stands out from its surroundings; maybe it's a railroad/highway intersection, or a bridge across a lake or river. A bend in a river is good if the river's fairly straight, but if it's just another twist in a seriously snaking river it may not be.

In addition to sectionals, the Aeronautical Chart Users Guide includes information on other VFR and IFR charts. The guide should be available where you purchase your charts; if not, most pilot shops stock it, or it can be purchased directly from NACO.

At press time war with Iraq appeared imminent and the FAA had already issued notams establishing new flight restrictions in several locations across the country. During such unsettled times, temporary flight restrictions can pop up like afternoon thunderstorms in the summertime, and existing restrictions sometimes are modified. If you don't already obtain a full preflight briefing before every flight, you should start. It doesn't matter if you're not going any farther than the practice area, or even if you plan to stay in the pattern - get a full briefing, including current notams, before each flight and avoid the excitement of being intercepted by a military aircraft. Check AOPA Online (www.aopa.org) regularly for updates as well.

As you travel, remember AOPA's Airport Watch program. If you notice suspicious activity at any airport you're visiting, call the toll-free hotline at 866/GA-SECURE (866/427-3287). Operators at the National Response Center will relay your report to the appropriate local authorities.