Always Learning

A what? Bryan explains that about 10 years ago he taped an outdated Chicago sectional chart to his hangar wall, for decoration. After admiring the chart simply as art for a time, he had the idea to circle each airport he had visited with an orange highlighter. Although he circled a decent number of airports, he eventually needed to expand his display to include Green Bay, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, New York, and Washington, D.C., sectionals, since he had landed at airports in those areas. Contemplating the circles thinly spread out across seven sectionals made him realize there were hundreds of airports he had never visited within flying range of the Arrow. This fueled his desire to “collect” more chart circles.

Bryan rarely flies his airplane without a specific destination in mind—or alone. He flies to eat (gotta eat lunch somewhere), and he flies for camaraderie. Although he has a copy of John Purner’s book, The $100 Hamburger: A Pilots’ Guide, in his hangar, his go-to source for restaurants—located on airport property or nearby via FBO courtesy car—are the friends he invites to fly along. Seasoned pilots, new pilots, and nonpilots alike share in the fun of picking an airport to which they have never flown, making phone calls or searching online to identify the most interesting restaurant. The eager fliers eat lunch at a location up to 150 miles distant in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, or Michigan and are back home by 3 p.m.

Upon returning to Bryan’s hangar at the end of the adventure, a chart-circling ceremony commences. Out comes the orange highlighter, the now-familiar airport is found on the huge expanse of sectionals on the wall, and the airport is triumphantly circled.

Perhaps it sounds a bit silly, but the brilliance is that Bryan has gamified his recreational flying. After nearly three decades as pilot in command, chasing chart circles and sharing the experience has kept Bryan’s passion for general aviation burning bright. In fact, multiple younger pilots—recently graduated from college—have adopted his chart circle challenge and even introduced it to their friends. It’s ironic in this age of social media that something as tangible as printed sectional charts can still be proudly displayed by young and old for all to see the many places they’ve traveled as a pilot.

Beyond the search for a good restaurant, there are many other reasons to collect chart circles. Some pilots want to land at airports with grass runways—and there are still a surprising number of them in the United States. These pilots develop their skills on longer, wider public-use grass runways. As proficiency increases, they may decide to earn a tailwheel endorsement and seek out shorter, narrower private grass runways—with permission from the airport owner, of course—or rugged and remote backcountry strips you can’t even find on the sectional.

My favorite is visiting new airports during long cross-country trips. Although there are airports I visit often and am comfortable with, adding one or two new destinations to each long flight keeps the journey fresh and exciting—and that is exactly why I started flying in the first place. A few of my favorite airports were discovered when I was not looking for, or wanting to land at, someplace new. Sometimes unwanted diversions and unplanned chart circles make the best memories.

I encourage you to find your own reason to collect chart circles. Consider setting a goal of visiting 12 new airports in 2021—one per month. And when you land, shut down the aircraft, get out, and talk with some locals. Often, the people you meet are just as interesting as the airports.