Sunday, December 4, 2005 - 23:50:39 ET

Learning your A,B,C's

Take a look a the map that I photoshopped the other day as a reference. Today I'm going to talk about the different classes of airspace around Buttonville.

There are actually 5 classes of airspace around Buttonville, but you can only see four of them on my map.

Lets start off with what you can see and I've highlighted.

Class Charlie
Class "C" (or Charlie) airspace is the most common (I think) airspace in and around Toronto.

Rules:
- You must have a radio
- You must have a transponder
- You must have clearance before entering the airspace

Services offered:
- Conflict resolution upon request (help with not colliding with anyone)
- Air traffic information (who is where)

For VFR flight inside class charlie you must be 500' below any cloud and 1 mile horizontally away from cloud. 3 miles of visibility minimum.

Class Delta
Class "D" (or Delta) airspace is found around some of the more active smaller airports in the area.

Rules:
- You must have a radio
- Transponder only in designated areas
- You must establish radio contact before entering (you dont need to ask to enter, just let them ATC know where you are)

Services offered:
- Conflict resolution conditions permitting (if the controller has time to)
- Air traffic information

For VFR flight inside class delta you must be 500' below any cloud and 1 mile horizontally away from cloud. 3 miles of visibility minimum.

Class Echo
Class "E" (or Echo) airspace is found around only at the Downsview control zone. I have no idea why.

Rules:
- Transponder requred in designated areas
- Radio optional
- No clearance or radio contact is required before entering.

Services offered:
- Air traffic information conditions permitting

For VFR flight inside class echo you must be 500' below any cloud and 1 mile horizontally away from cloud. 3 miles of visibility minimum.

Now for the items you cant see on my map.

Class Foxtrox
Class "F" (or Foxtrox) airspace is also known as restricted airspace. There are specific rules governing the use of that airspace. The closest location of Class Foxtrot space is located north of the Oshawa aerodrome. It is reserved for flight training.

Class Golf
Class "G" (or Golf) is located "everywhere else" and is also known as unrestricted airspace. This is the area where no other classification is given below 18000'.

Rules:
- None

Services offered:
- Flight information and alerting (weather, flight planning, etc..)

For VFR flight inside class golf you must be clear of all cloud and 2 miles of visibility minimum below 1000' AGL. Above 1000' AGL you must be 500' below any cloud and 2000' horizontally away from cloud. 1 mile visibility minimum.

Phew! I'm sure I can remember all this.

Comments (3) | Permalink | Category: Air Law

Blake,

Your last class G weather minima is reversed. Below 1000' 2m vis and clear of cloud, above 1000' the 500-1000-1 rule applies.

Great entries though. Good luck on your flight test. I'm going for the fourth rain date on the 27th. Passed the ground portion so I just need to fly.

Posted by: Chris on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 08:03:50

Oops. That should be 500-2000-1 rule for above 1000'

Posted by: Chris on Monday, December 25, 2006 - 08:05:56

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the correction! I've updated the page accordingly.

Good luck on your test :)

Posted by: Blake on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 11:20:42