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Okay, what if the altitudes go up to 20,000 feet and you can’t get around it? Then you need to answer question three. You can also look at the Special Use Airspace chart on the side of the VFR sectional to find the specific altitudes if you have a hard time picking them out on the chart (which happens on a cluttered chart). You might be able to fly above or below it.įor example, look at this one near Pendleton, OR. You may not need to fly around the airspace. The FSS will NOT keep you clear of Restricted airspace.īut sometimes restricted areas are too big to avoid which brings me to the second question you need to answer: What are the altitude restrictions? Flight following is different from opening a flight plan with FSS. Note: If you are up flight following (which I always recommend) Center will keep you clear of active restricted airspaces. I usually always avoid restricted areas even if they are cold. I am never complacent when planning VFR flights. VFR flight plans are a completely different matter. I didn’t have to do the legwork to find out if it was open that morning. I put it in the FMS and it’s easy as one, two, three. Sure, if the airspace is “hot” or open, I will get the dreaded: “prepare to copy,” but it saves me having to do research when I am trying to get off the ground quickly.įor example, when we fly from Portland, OR to Spokane, WA we go right through the Yakima restricted area. When the range is active, ATC will amend our flight plan and give us PAPPS just below the airspace.
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Why? Because the controller will route me around the airspace if it hasn’t been released back to ATC. When I plan IFR flights (whether this is right or wrong) I plan the route right through restricted areas. The type of flight plan you are on will dictate the level of research you need to do. Which means you need to do a little digging to answer four questions:įirst Question: Are you on a VFR or IFR flight plan? It’s an hour of flight time! Look at this one in Nevada: Most of the time it’s not worth doing the research to shave 15 min off your flight.īut, sometimes out west, it’s more than a 15 min inconvenience. The simple answer is: 90% of the time go around them. So now you know what they are, the more important question is: what do you do about them? Specifically: How do you navigate restricted airspace? They use it for low-level helicopter flying, para drop operations and weapons ranges. The famed Area 51 is a restricted area (and a Prohibited Area), and of course, Washington DC is littered with them including Quantico, Virginia and the Surface Warfare Center.Īlmost every Army post will have one attached to it like this one at Fort Lewis, Washington. The restricted airspace near Pendleton Oregon is a bombing range.
#Fltplan go moa times license#
You want to protect your pilot’s license in case you read the altitude or times wrong. You can legally fly through a restricted airspace when it is “cold,” or “closed.” I recommend you speak with the controlling agency prior to entering, though. If the airspace is “active,” “open,” or “hot” they will deny you permission, and you will have to go around. In practical terms, this means you cannot fly through the dimensions of a restricted airspace without getting permission from the controlling agency (usually Center). In short, they need to keep people out for their own safety. The restricted area exists to contain things which could cause great danger to non-participating aircraft. Okay, great, but what does that actually mean?
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The AIM defines restricted areas as: “ Restricted areas contain airspace identified by an area on the surface of the earth within which the flight of aircraft, while not wholly prohibited, is subject to restrictions.” I covered all the special use airspace categories which you can access by clicking the blue links above.įor now, though, let’s talk Restricted Areas. The special use airspaces are listed below:
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It, like prohibited areas, are regulatory. Restricted areas are one of the six special use airspaces.