Do you really need to carry VFR charts?

The question on if we are required to have charts or required to have updated charts for some of us is more of an academic question. Here is an interesting response from the FAA FAQ on this topic.

What is the FAA policy for carrying current charts?

The specific FAA regulation, FAR 91.103 "Preflight Actions," states that each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. Although the regulation does not specifically require it, you should always carry a current chart with you in flight. Expired charts may not show frequency changes or newly constructed obstructions, both of which when unknown could crate a hazard.

The only FAA/FAR requirements that pertain to charts are:


• Title 14 CFR section 91.503[a] (Large and Turbojet powered aircraft)
• Title 14 CFR section 135.83 (Air Carriers-Little Airplane)
• Title 14 CFR section 121.549 (Air Carrier-Big Airplanes)

The FAA's July/August 1997 issue of FAA Aviation News on "current" aeronautical charts provided the following information:

1. "You can carry old charts in your aircraft." "It is not FAA policy to violate anyone for having outdated charts in the aircraft."
2. "Not all pilots are required to carry a chart." "91.503..requires the pilot in command of large and multiengine airplanes to have charts." "Other operating sections of the FAR such as Part 121 and Part 135 operations have similar requirements."
3. ..."since some pilots thought they could be violated for having outdated or no charts on board during a flight, we need to clarify an important issue. As we have said, it is NOT FAA policy to initiate enforcement action against a pilot for having an old chart on board or no chart on board." That's because there is no regulation on the issue.
4. ..."the issue of current chart data bases in handheld GPS receivers is a non-issue because the units are neither approved by the FAA or required for flight, nor do panel-mounted VFR-only GPS receivers have to have a current data base because, like handheld GPS receivers, the pilot is responsible for pilotage under VFR.
5. "If a pilot is involved in an enforcement investigation and there is evidence that the use of an out-of-date chart, no chart, or an out-of-date database contributed to the condition that brought on the enforcement investigation, then that information could be used in any enforcement action that might be taken."

Today is the day for new San Francisco Charts .... what changed?

Approximately every 180 days, new VFR charts are produced. New charts are needed because new obstructions get created, changes may occur to airport information or NAVAIDs, or there may be changes to airspace. Given that these changes don’t wait until the charts are published we also check NOTAMS. There is also another source that provides a list of some of the major changes that have occurred. The AFD, which is updated every 56 days, publishes changes since the last published chart. There is a section titled Aeronautical Chart Bulletin in the AFD that contains the major changes. For the San Francisco sectional chart there are no noted major changes as shown in the excerpt below:

However, take a look at the information listed in the AFD for the Los Angeles TAC. It shows that the El Monte airspace has changed from what is published on the chart. The charted airspace extends to 2,800 MSL whereas this notice amends that to 2,400 MSL. More importantly, the shape has slightly changed as well. The extension beyond the 4 NM radius actually shifted about 30 degrees clockwise in the amendment vs what is charted.. You would think with this change that there would be a NOTAM and FSS would know about this, but when I checked, there were no published NOTAMs and the briefer I talked to was not aware of this change. This change was only confirmed by a call to the airport manager that said in fact they had just received an email from the Tower manager confirming the change was in effect.

TFRs for Fires - more to think about then just the TFR

In the summer time, it is not uncommon to see TFR’s for “Hazard” due to fires. The actual TFR is often times the least of the issues since:


1. they are often small, e.g. a radius of 10 miles of less,
2. they are plotted via various apps/systems such as ForeFlight, G1000, as well as the sectional view on www.faa.gov.
3. and you can create a plan to avoid them.

The greater hazard is the smoke and haze generated from these fires. The smoke and associated haze reduce flight visibility and in some cases dramatically so. In addition, the haze can cause strain on your eyes because all you see is a wall of white. Probably the biggest challenge is that it is hard to know where the smoke will be both from a geographical area as well as how high the smoke goes. Smoke may not easily show on a satellite image if it is below a cirrus cloud layer. Area forecasts often only provide broad indications of where smoke (FU) might be found and then only if the visibility is less than 5 SM. So if the visibility is 6 or 7 SM, which is still pretty poor, the area forecast won’t report the smoke like the examples below.

OR CASCDS WWD
SWRN INTR...BKN CI. OCNL VIS 3-5SM FU. FU TOP 120. 21Z SCT CI OCNL VIS 3-5SM FU. OTLK...VFR FU.

NRN CA...STS-SAC-TVL LN NWD
SHASTA-SISKIYOUS...BKN CI. OCNL VIS 3-5SM FU. FU TOP 120. 21Z SCT160. ISOL -TSRA. CB TOP FL400. OTLK...VFR TIL 02Z TSRA.

CNTRL CA
SAN JOAQUIN VLY...SKC. TIL 20Z OCNL VIS 3-5SM HZ/FU. FU TOP 055 OTLK...VFR.

Sometime the best sources of information are pilot reports. But often times, they are not very many pilot reports to be helpful. But when they do exists, like the ones below, they can be valuable information if they happen to be near your intended route of flight.

LMT UA /OV 2S2 /TM 2010 /FL109 /TP C185 /SK TOP105 /WX HZ FU
MFR UA /OV FJS-OED180020/TM 2234/FL100/TP C310/WX FV01SM HZ/RM IMC

Lastly, sometimes an AIRMET may help identify an area that is obscured by smoke but AIRMETs technically have a threshold that the weather phenomenon has to be impacting an area of at least 3,000 square miles. In the cases below, they do help pinpoint area where visibility will be poor.

WAUS46 KKCI 311445
SFOS WA 311445
AIRMET SIERRA UPDT 3 FOR IFR AND MTN OBSCN VALID UNTIL 312100
AIRMET MTN OBSCN...OR CA
FROM 60SE EUG TO 50ESE OED TO 70SW OED TO 50S EUG TO 60SE EUG
MTNS OBSC BY FU/HZ. CONDS CONTG BYD 21Z THRU 03Z.

WAUS46 KKCI 311445
SFOS WA 311445
AIRMET SIERRA UPDT 3 FOR IFR AND MTN OBSCN VALID UNTIL 312100
AIRMET IFR...OR CA
FROM 40NNW OED TO 20NW LKV TO 80SSW LKV TO 50E FOT TO 40NNW OED
VIS BLW 3SM HZ/FU. CONDS ENDG 18-21Z.

Lycoming engine information

Most of my flying is with Cessna planes and Lycoming engines. Often times I have question or am curious about things that are not fully explained in the POH. I ran across this document from Lycoming that seems to be a collection of articles that may have been published by them over the years. It seems like an interesting gem of a document because it is not too technical and it covers common topics like engine break-ins and leaning.

Lycoming Reprints

http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2001/01/flying-versus-driving/

Oxygen cylinder expiration dates - yes there is a regulation for that too!

Recently I spent some time looking into oxygen usage for general aviation. I was looking into the various portable oxygen systems and their details. Several clubs let members check out portable oxygen tanks including San Carlos Flight Center and West Valley Flying Club. When I looked at the WVFC oxygen tank I was told that the next time it needed to be refilled it had to be certified. Huh? Certified? What’s up with that? This got my searching. What I found were the regulations governing recertification of the cylinders that are used for the oxygen tanks. All the cylinders I have seen are aluminum and are of type 3AL. The regulation is in 49 CFR 180.209. It states that the cylinders need to be hydrostatically tested every five (5) years. There is actually a stamp that is imprinted on the cylinder when it is manufactured and also stamped when it is tested. In the picture you can see this cylinder has a "06 * 99" stamp indicating it was originally tested in June of 1999. It has another stamp of "05 * 07" when it was recertified in May of 2007. It turns out that it is not legal to refill a tank that is not current like the one pictured. So it is a good idea to know when a tank needs to be recertified. There are a couple of places that can perform the required test and stamp the cylinder. Near SQL, Alliance Gas Products will do it but it does take them a couple of weeks.

Oakland Center

Earlier this week I got a chance to tour the facility that handles the ZOA airspace, which we all know as "Oakland Center". The Oakland Center tour is not as educational as the NorCal tour so if you have a choice between the two I found NorCal to be much more interesting.

One of the unique things you see at Oakland Center are the controllers that work the Pacific Ocean sector for flights headed to Hawaii and beyond. This sector has NO radar so position reporting by planes is the standard way to track planes and ensure separation. A small number of planes have ADS-C, yes that is right -C. These planes can transmit their position as well as the controllers can query the planes status. The other interesting thing is that the controller NEVER talks to the planes. He either sends a text like message for clearance such as climbs/descents or the planes talk to a radio facility in Livermore and the Livemore "ARINC" phones the Oakland Center controller to relay the message.

Oakland Center also has traditional controllers that handle the airspace outside of the NorCal area, e.g. Paso Robles. The airspace is divided up into sectors and split between high and low altitudes. The other interesting thing is there is often two controllers in a sector. One controller works the radar terminal and communicates with the pilot while the other controller works what they call the "D" side. The "D" side is where data is entered about each flight. It is quite interesting to see the controllers seamlessly working together.

A question was asked about flight following. Sometimes when you request flight following a controller will give you a squawk code and then later ask for details on your request while other times a controller will ask for your destination and then give you a squawk code. The controller said that this is all a personal choice by individual controllers and is not based on any policy or level of work.