Sectional Charts

Lab 9 is an online lab where the class is looking at sectional charts and finding out what approval is required to fly in certain areas. Three missions and charts are provided with various airspace and approval requirements. This lab is intended to get the class familiar with sectional charts and show them what preparation is needed before flying for a mission.

Chart 1

New York City Sectional Chart

For the first sectional chart, the mission is to use a quadcopter to inspect One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building. Both of these buildings are in class B airspace, marked by the solid blue circle. They are also surrounded by three airports. To fly in class B airspace, approval is need from ATC of the airport with jurisdiction. For One World Trade Center, approval is needed from JFK Intl ATC. For inspecting the Empire State Building, approval is needed from LGA ATC. 

NYC Landmark Sectional Chart

Skyvector has a sectional chart for helicopters that shows landmarks on the chart. This shows that the two towers being inspected are One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building.

One World Trade Center Satellite Image

Empire State Building Satellite Image

Satellite images show what the inspected areas look like. There are hazards that need to be taken into account before the mission begins. New York City has a lot of manned air traffic that needs to be avoided. There are also many people walking on the streets below and buildings everywhere. While flying, these potential dangers need to be avoided.

Chart 2

Salt Lake City Sectional Chart

The second mission is to create a map of Carrington Island, on the left side of the image, using a fixed wing UAS. Carrington Island is just inside Class C airspace, marked by the solid magenta circle. ATC approval is needed to fly in class C airspace. In this case, ATC approval comes from SLC. 

Carrington Island Satellite Image

Carrington Island is near three airports. This means air traffic can be expected. Besides staying away from air traffic, Carrington Island is out of the way and there should not be many hazards.

Chart 3

Seattle Sectional Chart

The final mission is to perform an analysis of one of the forests on Fox Island with a fixed wing UAS. It is hard to see Fox Island on the sectional chart, but it is under the airport information for TIW. Fox Island is in class D airspace, marked by the dashed blue circle. It is also right next to Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW). Flying in class D airspace requires ATC approval. To fly over Fox Island, ATC approval is needed from TIW. 

Fox Island Satellite Image

Fox Island has many houses on it. To avoid dangerous situations, the UAS should not fly too low to the ground where houses and trees may be in the way. It is also right next to an airport. There may be aircraft flying in and the remote PIC needs to make sure the UAS does not fly over the airport.

Conclusion: Lab 9 showed us different areas and missions that we may see in future UAS jobs. Whether I am making a map, surveying a tower for damage, or analyzing geographical locations, it is important to know what airspace I am flying in. It is more important to know what approval I need to be able to fly in various controlled airspace. Another important part of this lab was that it had us come up with potential hazards that we need to be aware before we fly. Risk assessment will ensure that each UAS mission is performed safely. All of this material is relevant to anyone that plans to fly a UAS commercially.