06/09 - Planning Your First Cross Country

06/09 - Planning Your First Cross Country – Step 2

By Steve Krog

Planning is vital when flying a cross-country trip. Good planning always includes a thorough review of the airports enroute and especially the airport of destination. Without planning how will you know what to expect at your destination? Does the airport have more than one runway? Will it be long enough to land safely? Is fuel available if needed? What service is available if a minor mechanical problem is encountered? All of these questions and more are easily answered if you know where to look.

In the previous issue we compared a typical road mad to the aeronautical sectional chart. Then, we reviewed many of the chart symbols, icons and abbreviations to learn what each was telling us.

Let’s assume for training purposes that you plan to fly to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on your first dual cross-country training flight. The airport’s overhead view as shown by using Google Maps indicates that Oshkosh has a long north/south runway as well as a long east/west runway. Additionally, you can determine that the airport is geographically located near the western shoreline of Lake Winnebago and immediately south of the city. But that is about all the information we can gather from this overhead photo.

Oshkosh, which can be found on the Chicago Sectional Chart, looks like this when viewing it on the chart. Don’t be overwhelmed by all of the symbols. As we analyze these symbols they will begin to make sense to you.

First, note that the airport is printed in blue (compared to the Hartford airport in the last issue which was magenta). There is a reason for the blue color. It tells you that Oshkosh is a tower-operated airport. The blue airport symbol also shows the distinct north/south and east/west runways. The runway symbol indicates that Oshkosh has hard surface runways greater than 8,069 feet in length or some multiple runways less than 8,069 feet.

There is also a small open dot within the runway configuration that indicates the approximate location of the VOR or VORTAC. The larger of the two blue circles around Oshkosh is also symbolic of a VOR or VORTAC. We’ll talk more about that in a future newsletter.

Located immediately to the right of the blue airport symbol you’ll find additional information that is needed to be able to fly into Oshkosh. The first item noted is the number—118.5, followed by a star icon, then a circle containing the letter ‘c’. This is the radio frequency for conducting two-way communication with the control tower. It is sometimes called the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF). The star icon indicates to you that the tower does not operate 24/7. Rather, it is part-time.

Next, you will see the letters ‘ATIS’ followed by the numbers ‘125.9’. Automated Terminal Information Service, abbreviated as ATIS, is a recorded message updated hourly. It provides current surface wind conditions, temperature and barometric pressure, favored runway or runways for take offs and landings, radio frequencies needed to contact the control tower, and any other pertinent information for the airport. These recorded airport briefings are verbally identified by a letter of the phonetic alphabet. Example: This is information Delta.

The second line of information begins with a number, in this case, 808. This number signifies the field elevation of the Oshkosh airport. It is 808 feet above sea level. The next symbol is the capital letter ‘*L’ with an asterisk followed by the number 80. The asterisked L tells you that the airport has at least one runway with lights (for night flying) and this runway is 8,000 feet long. The asterisk indicates that the lighting has some limitations and you should refer to the Airport Facility Directory (AFD) for additional information.

The last set of numbers in this line is the local UNICOM frequency. It is used to communicate with the local Fixed Base Operation (FBO) to expedite parking, request fuel, or arrange for ground transportation for example.

As you look at the Oshkosh airport on the Sectional Chart, there are two additional items that you need to be aware of before flying to Oshkosh. The first is the blue dash-line circle around the airport. This circle, which has an approximate five-mile radius, is the symbol for Class D airspace. To fly into Class D airspace you will need a radio capable of two-way communications and you will need to contact and receive acknowledgement from the Oshkosh tower.

The second symbol is the bold faced number surrounded by the squared parenthesis markings—[33]. This number reflects the height or top of the Class D airspace surrounding Oshkosh. If your route of flight would take you very near or over rather than to Oshkosh, this is the minimum elevation you would legally be able to over fly the airport.

The final block of information is the blue rectangular rectangle located at the bottom of the airport symbol. It is titled VORTAC and contains information that will be very helpful if we are using radio navigation to find and fly to Oshkosh. We’ll spend more time and provide a detailed explanation of radio navigation in a future newsletter. However, you’ll still want to know what this information means.

VORTAC tells us that there is a VOR with TACAN located on the field. There are two numbers located outside of the blue rectangle. The first, 122.25, is in the upper left corner and tells you that you can establish two-way communication with Flight Service on this frequency. The second number, 122.1R, located in the upper right corner tells you that you can transmit to Flight Service on that frequency but you will have to listen on 111.8, the VOR frequency, in order to hear the response from Flight Service. The name of the VOR is contained within the blue box, in this example OSHKOSH. The next line carries the VOR frequency, 111.8, followed by CH 55, which is the high range frequency used by the military.

Next, you’ll see the three-letter designator, OSH, which identifies the station for planning and tracking purposes. To ensure that you have correctly identified the VOR while in flight, the station broadcasts the Morse code representing the three-letter designator. The identifying dots and dashes are shown within the rectangular box.

Now that you have a better understanding of the information provided to you on the Sectional Chart for Oshkosh, what do we not yet know that is important to fly a safe flight to Oshkosh?

Here are a few things that we still need to learn before beginning the flight to Oshkosh.

What are the actual hours of the control tower operation?
What are the proper procedures should you arrive at Oshkosh when the control tower is not in operation?
What are the numbered runways at Oshkosh and their lengths?
Are there non-standard traffic patterns used for any of these runways.
What obstructions, if any, might be encountered while entering Oshkosh Class D airspace?
What types of fuel service are available? What are the service hours?

All of the information needed to answer each of these questions can be found in an FAA published booklet titled the Airport Facility Directory (AFD). We will cover the AFD in the next newsletter.

NOTE: The information contained within this article is somewhat general in nature for the purpose of presenting an overview. Work with your flight instructor when you begin learning the interpretation of Sectional Charts and planning your cross-country flights.

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