FAA Airspace for VFR FLight

Hi Vince Riley, this is CFI, twin i rotor wing and fixed wing, today's topic will be

airspace

, whether you're preparing for your private pilot check trip, preparing for a semi-annual

flight

review or just want to review this video. It will only give you an easy way to remember which

airspace

is where, but it will also help you remember your visibility and cloud clearance requirements. The designation and altitudes of the airspace we will cover can be found in FAA regulations, part 71, the first airspace we will discuss. about very fast, it doesn't really apply to VFR flying, which is class A airspace and starts at eighteen thousand feet all the way up to

flight

level six zero zero, which is basically sixty thousand feet to fly into class A airspace. class A, you must have an IFR. authorization Next we will talk about class e airspace.

A good way to remember where e airspace is is to simply remember that it is everywhere, from the bottom of class airspace to 1200 feet above sea level throughout the United States, with a few exceptions and around. Some airports that have approach procedures descend to 700 feet above sea level everywhere below Class E airspace, starting at the surface is Class G. One important thing to remember about class e airspace is that there is a delineation at ten thousand feet above sea level, which changes the visibility and cloud clearance requirements. All visibility and cloud clearance requirements can be found in a chart in section 91.155.

Here is an example of the graph. Basically, I just cut off the bottom half, which is where the most confusion comes from when talking about airspace and cloud clearance requirements, so let's talk about that for a moment because this is where most people get confused. . For starters, there is a small section for helicopters. Well, your special kind of people bless you, so we're not going to talk about that right now. another section that is a remnant of times past that speaks of more than twelve hundred feet above the surface but less than ten thousand feet asl and as far as I know I have not been able to find any of these areas in the current vfr sectionals since 2017. so which for now just ignore it and what I want you to remember is cessna 152, we're going to talk about that in just a minute, the next area below that talks about being over 1200 feet above the surface and at or above 10,000 feet masl again, I don't know of any areas where this applies in the current VFR sectional table.

What I want you to remember here is the f-111 as in the f-111 aardvark bomber. Additional confusion about class g airspace comes from the table supplement. current guide and charts that still show blue shaded areas in the legend and talk about the e class above 1200 feet agl again. I have not been able to find that on any of the modern maps, as you will see on the current VFR sectional charts. the magenta shaded area is where you drop down to 700 feet if you're nostalgic for the old days, here's an example that comes from the 1971 salt lake VFR section.

It shows both magenta and blue class E designated areas. There were actually VFR racers. above 1200 feet and other areas through the mountains to allow pilots to fly VFR, but again, all have been removed from the map. If you can find one, put it in the comments below and let me know where you found it since I already showed it to you. the table in part 91 i want to talk first about class g airspace at some point in your flying career you will probably hear a question that looks a lot like this your dpe or instructor will point out a spot in a vfr section and ask what the visibility and cloud clearance requirements when your brother's cousin's aunt is drunk flying her shopping cart at ten thousand one hundred feet.

This is an easy question and this is how you will remember it every time you are less than twelve hundred feet above sea level, regardless of altitude msl, your visibility requirement is one statute mile free of clouds and at night it is a visibility of three statute miles with basic cloud clearance and we're going to talk about what basic cloud clearance is in just a minute, so we don't need to talk about cloud visibility and clearance requirements in class a airspace because that It is only for IFR traffic so remember class E airspace is everywhere up to 1200 feet above sea level and around some airports up to 700 feet above sea level or surface so now add our class g airspace our class c airspace our class d airspace and class b airspace and our class e surface area let's add some clouds because we're going to talk about our visibility and cloud-free space requirements first we'll talk about class airspace above 10,000 feet above sea level and remember I said to remember the F-111, so above 10,000 feet above sea level your visibility requirements are five statute miles, while the Cloud clearance requirements are those that come from the F-111 1000 feet below 1000 feet. above and one statute mile horizontally f111 is a visibility of five thousand miles below one thousand above and one statute mile horizontally so below ten thousand feet masl is where we get cessna 152 and this applies to all airspace controlled below 10,000 feet msl with one exception and we'll talk about that in just a minute below 10,000 feet you will need to maintain visibility of three statute miles and basic cloud clearance.

The c and the Cessna 152, the third letter of the alphabet, will help you remember the cloud clearance of three statute miles. It's 500 feet below 1000 above and 2000 feet horizontal again, that's where the Cessna 152 comes from. This cloud clearing is known as basic cloud clearing, this is how you'll remember your visibility and cloud clearing requirements below. 10,000 feet masl, you just have to remember where to place each of the numbers, the visibility requirement for class g airspace and cloud-free space during the day is one statute mile free of clouds at night, it is cessna 152 the same than the rest of the controlled airspace three statute miles and basic cloud-free space, so what does it do?

I think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in class C airspace, that's right, Cessna 152. So what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in class D airspace? You're right again, Cessna, so what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is? It's on the surface and airspace when it's active, that's right, Cessna 152, so what do you think the visibility and cloud clearance requirement is in class b airspace? Well, here's the exception, it's still three statute miles, but it's cloud-free, in other words you can be within a foot. out of the cloud and meet the requirements for class b airspace.

The reason for this is that to enter class b airspace first of all you have to have a clearance and secondly they will tell you to maintain vfr and lastly you have a transponder with adsb. They will know exactly where you are to keep you away from IFR traffic and provide you with traffic warnings. It's really that simple in controlled airspace below 10,000 feet msl, visibility is cessna 152 3 miles and basic cloud-free space, with the exception of class b airspace, which is cloud-free in class g airspace at night it goes back to the same requirements so really you just have to remember f111 cessna 152 and then one mile cloud free during the day for class g and then in class b again cloud free clouds, so Try what we have learned, let's say you are here at 800 feet above sea level, what type of airspace you are in and what your visibility and cloud clearance requirement is.

If you said class g airspace you are correct and your visibility and cloud free space requirements. During the day, one mile with clear clouds, how about three miles at night and a basic cloud clearance of 500 below 1000 above and 2000 horizontal? Well what if you are here at 3600 feet msl what type of airspace are you in and what are your visibility and cloud clearance requirements remember the vfr section tells you almost everything you need to know about controlled airspace the bottom of class b airspace in this area starts at seven thousand feet the top of class d airspace ends at 3500 feet msl if you said class e airspace you are right and your visibility in cloud airspace requirements, that's right, three miles and basic cloud airspace, how about if you are here at 12,000 feet msl what type of airspace are you in and what is your visibility and cloud? clearance requirements that is correct class b airspace and its visibility and cloud clearance requirements I hope you said three statute miles of visibility and cloud free let's look at some more examples what would happen if I were here at 5100 meters above sea level in what kind of space What are your visibility and cloud clearance requirements?

Remember the VFR section is very useful and shows the top and bottom of this class C airspace. The correct class E airspace and what your visibility is in the cloud clearance requirements. Correct again. Cessna 152, three statute miles, visibility, basic cloud clearance. It's 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above, and 2,000 feet horizontally, okay, one more example, what if you're here at 11,000 feet in a cell what kind of airspace are you in and what are your airspace requirements? Visibility and cloud clearance now what are you getting? is class e airspace above 10,000 feet asl and visibility and cloud-free space requirements remember the f-111 above 10,000 feet asl five miles of visibility one thousand feet below one thousand feet above and one statute mile horizontally from any cloud If this was helpful, please click the Like button, subscribe and leave your comments below.

I'll also provide a link to two other videos I made that discuss how to determine your position using a load factor and vor, those are other areas that people really struggle with as well if you want. Another topic was discussed. You can leave a suggestion in the comments below and I'll try to make a video for that too.