Chapter 2 of 525% of exam
Airspace and Sectional Charts
Knowing where you are allowed to fly means being able to identify the airspace above your launch point and read it off a sectional chart. This chapter covers the airspace classes and which ones require authorization, sectional chart symbols and altitude notation, special use airspace, temporary flight restrictions, and how to stay clear of airport traffic.
Controlled and Uncontrolled Airspace
Airspace is divided into controlled classes A, B, C, D, and E, and uncontrolled Class G. Controlled means air traffic control provides separation service to instrument traffic there, so a drone entering it without permission is an unannounced hazard. For remote pilots the practical line is simple: Class G needs no authorization, while Class B, C, D, and the surface area of Class E do. Class A is the high-altitude structure from 18,000 feet MSL up to and including flight level 600, and no Part 107 operation ever reaches it because of the 400-foot limit.
Class G is uncontrolled
Class G extends from the surface up to the base of the overlying Class E airspace and requires no ATC authorization for Part 107 flights.
14 CFR §107.41Class B, C, D, and surface Class E require authorization
You must obtain prior ATC authorization before operating in Class B, C, D, or the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport.
14 CFR §107.41Class B surrounds the busiest airports
Class B is shaped like an upside-down wedding cake with tiered shelves, usually running from the surface to about 10,000 feet MSL.
Class C and Class D wrap smaller towered airports
Class C typically reaches about 4,000 feet above airport elevation with an inner core and an outer shelf, while Class D is a small cylinder about 4 nautical miles wide up to roughly 2,500 feet above the airport.
Class E is controlled airspace that often starts above the ground
Class E can begin at the surface around some airports, at 700 feet AGL, at 1,200 feet AGL, or at 14,500 feet MSL where nothing else is designated.
Class A is irrelevant to Part 107 in practice
Class A runs from 18,000 feet MSL to FL600 and cannot be reached under the 400-foot Part 107 altitude limit.
14 CFR §107.51Getting Authorization: LAANC and DroneZone
Authorization to fly in controlled airspace is normally requested electronically rather than by phone. LAANC, the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability, checks your request against UAS Facility Maps that publish a maximum approved altitude for each grid square and can return an approval in seconds. If your request exceeds the published grid ceiling or LAANC is not available at that facility, you file a further coordination request through the FAA DroneZone portal, which takes far longer. An authorization is not a waiver: it lets you enter the airspace but does not relieve you of any other Part 107 rule.
Authorization must be obtained before the flight
ATC authorization is a prerequisite to entering controlled airspace, not something you request while airborne.
14 CFR §107.41LAANC uses UAS Facility Map grids
Each grid square carries a maximum altitude, often 0, 50, 100, 200, 300, or 400 feet, and requests at or below that value can be approved automatically.
A grid marked zero means no automatic approval
A zero-foot grid, common right off a runway end, requires further coordination through DroneZone rather than an instant LAANC approval.
Authorization and waiver are different documents
An airspace authorization permits entry into controlled airspace; a certificate of waiver permits deviation from specific operating rules.
14 CFR §107.200Comply with all authorization provisions
Altitude caps, time windows, and any special provisions attached to the authorization are binding for the entire flight.
Reading a Sectional Chart
The sectional aeronautical chart is the primary tool for identifying airspace at a proposed launch site, and its color code is consistent. Blue markings indicate airspace or airports associated with an operating control tower, while magenta markings indicate the absence of a tower or Class E beginning at 700 feet AGL. Airspace floors and ceilings are printed as numbers in hundreds of feet MSL, so 100 over 40 inside Class B means a ceiling of 10,000 feet MSL and a floor of 4,000 feet MSL. A bracketed number inside a dashed blue Class D boundary is the ceiling of that airspace in hundreds of feet MSL.
Solid blue and solid magenta rings
Solid blue lines outline Class B airspace and solid magenta lines outline Class C airspace.
Dashed lines mark Class D and surface Class E
A dashed blue line encloses Class D airspace, and a dashed magenta line encloses a Class E surface area.
Vignettes show where Class E begins aloft
A faded magenta band marks Class E starting at 700 feet AGL, and a faded blue band marks Class E starting at 1,200 feet AGL, with Class G below.
Numbers are hundreds of feet MSL
A ceiling over a floor such as 70 over 30 means 7,000 feet MSL down to 3,000 feet MSL, and SFC in place of a floor means the airspace reaches the ground.
Airport symbol color tells you about the tower
Blue airport symbols have an operating control tower; magenta airport symbols do not.
Airport data blocks carry elevation and runway length
The printed data includes the identifier, field elevation in feet MSL, an L for lighting, and the longest runway length in hundreds of feet.
Special Use Airspace, TFRs, and NOTAMs
Special use airspace confines activity that could be hazardous to other aircraft, and it is charted with hatched blue or magenta borders and an identifier such as R-2508 or P-56. Prohibited areas ban flight outright for security reasons, restricted areas allow entry only with permission from the controlling agency, and military operations areas warn of concentrated military training rather than prohibiting entry. Temporary flight restrictions appear on short notice around disasters, VIP movement, and large sporting events, and they are published through NOTAMs rather than printed on charts. Checking NOTAMs is part of preflight planning, because a chart printed months ago cannot warn you about a restriction issued this morning.
Prohibited areas are closed to flight
A prohibited area, charted with a P prefix, prohibits flight for national security or welfare reasons.
14 CFR §107.45Restricted areas require permission
Do not operate in a restricted area unless you have permission from the using or controlling agency, because unusual hazards such as artillery or guided missiles may exist there.
14 CFR §107.45MOAs separate military training from civil traffic
A military operations area is not prohibited airspace, but concentrated high-speed military maneuvering makes see-and-avoid harder, so extra vigilance is required.
Comply with temporary flight restrictions
Do not operate in the vicinity of areas covered by a TFR or other flight restriction issued for disasters, security, or special events.
14 CFR §107.47Stadium TFRs are large and recurring
Major sporting events at stadiums seating 30,000 or more are protected from the surface to 3,000 feet AGL within a 3 nautical mile radius, from one hour before to one hour after the event.
Check NOTAMs before every flight
Reviewing current NOTAMs is part of the required preflight assessment of the operating environment.
14 CFR §107.49Airports, Traffic Patterns, and Right of Way
Even outside controlled airspace, a drone flown near an airport can conflict with aircraft in the traffic pattern, which is why Part 107 forbids interfering with airport operations regardless of airspace class. A standard traffic pattern uses left turns and is flown at roughly 1,000 feet above the airport for light aircraft, with legs named upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final. The greatest risk is on the final approach and departure paths, where manned aircraft are low, slow, and committed. Under Part 107 the unmanned aircraft always yields, and you may not operate so close to another aircraft that a collision hazard is created.
Yield the right of way to all other aircraft
The small unmanned aircraft must give way to all other aircraft and may not create a collision hazard by operating too close to them.
14 CFR §107.37Do not interfere with airport operations
You may not operate in a manner that interferes with operations and traffic patterns at any airport, heliport, or seaplane base.
14 CFR §107.43Standard patterns turn left
Unless the airport publishes otherwise, aircraft in the pattern make left turns, and pattern legs run upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final.
14 CFR §91.126Stay off the approach and departure corridors
Avoid the extended runway centerline in both directions, where manned traffic descends to land and climbs after takeoff.
Nontowered does not mean uncontrolled traffic
Pilots at nontowered fields self-announce on a common traffic advisory frequency, and monitoring that frequency improves your situational awareness.
Test your knowledge
Practice questions on Airspace and Sectional Charts