1 Introduction
Display restricted or controlled airspace or COM areas
In this topic, you learn how to display restricted airspace, controlled airspace, and areas that use different communications frequencies on the map to support your work with flights.
We estimate that this will take 7 minutes to complete.
2 Detailed explanation
Display restricted and controlled airspace and flight communications areas
Use the options on the lower half of the NAV
Layers
pane to display on the map both high- and low-level:
■ Restricted airspace
■ Controlled airspace
■ COM areas (areas in which distinct frequencies are used for flight communications)
Since airspace in the same geographical area
may be restricted at a low level, but not at a higher level,
always ensure that you correctly select "High" or "Low" to be
sure your display is accurate.
For information on high- and low-level airways, waypoints, holding patterns, and navaids, consult the topic Depicting high and low airways, waypoints, holding patterns, and navaids.
This illustration depicts the low-level restricted airspace, featuring Las Islas Marias, off the Mexican coast.
Airspace restrictions are defined by local
authorities due to safety concerns. It is one of many types of
special use airspace (SUA).
N-Trackingadds
colored outlines to the map to depict these areas.
Begin this exploration of using the Restricted
Airspaces option in the NAV
Layers
pane with the map positioned showing Mexico and its
Pacific coast.
For this
example, you are zoomed to the 100 nm level.
Click the Layers menu button.
In this example, at the 100 nm zoom level, you
cannot use the high/low level NAV Layer sliders.
For customers
using the metric scale for your map, the same is true: At a
zoom of 100 km, the sliders are "grayed out", which means you
cannot use them.
Zoom in to an
appropriate level.
Click Zoom
in (+).
The navigation layers available for you to use at any given zoom level depend on the default settings you set in your user settings. For more details on enabling different layers at appropriate zoom levels, consult the topic, Adjust default zoom level for navigation layers.
At the 20 nm (or km) zoom level, you can work with some of the sliders -- the ones that are white.
Before you activate the Restricted
Airspace
slider, notice that the High/Low button is set to
the High position (its background is colored).
It's important
to remain aware of this setting while you work with this
navigational information. Use the option that
is applies for the flight you are analyzing and planning for.
Click the Restricted
Airspace
slider.
At the high level, the map shows relatively
few restricted airspaces (outlined in pink).
Notice the
islands, Las Islas Marias, to the west? There
are no high-level restricted airspaces
in that area.
Now, add the layer
showing low-level restricted airspaces
to the map.
Click the Low button.
You can see more restricted airspaces for the low level, and in
particular, one encompassing part of Las Islas Marias.
This example
should help you appreciate the importance of ensuring that you
have the correct level selected when you do planning that
involves restricted airspaces.
For the next
part of this exploration, we re-position the map over England.
Ensure you are zoomed in far enough to use the Restricted Airspace, Controlled Airspace and COM Areas sliders.
Click the Restricted
Airspace
slider.
For this example, look at low-level restricted airspace (a special use airspace or SUA).
Remember
from the first example you already reviewed: High-level SUAs
may be different than low-level SUAs for the same geographic
area. Always ensure you have the correct level turned on.
Otherwise, you may be viewing incorrect data.
Let's take a look at this highlighted SUA.
Click the
highlighted restricted airspace.
In this example, only one SUA displays. If there are multiple SUAs in the area you click, the information pane provides details for those SUAs
Click the HUNSDON
SUA
list item.
N-Trackinghighlights the selected SUA in orange and the information pane on the right provides more details.
Click the Close button.
Next, disable the Restricted
Airspace
layer and use the Controlled Airspace layer to monitor if
any tracked flights are affected by such SUAs.
Click the Restricted
Airspace
slider.
Click the Controlled
Airspace
slider.
This image, from The Airport Pilots Forum and Resource shows the relation between airways and control areas (CTAs).
Activate the Controlled
Airspace
option to view the boundaries of different types of airspace.
You can find out
more about each airspace by clicking on an area.
Click within
the highlighted area.
The information pane shows two airspaces. You can select either one to review more detailed information. For this example, click the class C control area.
Click the CTA
Class C
list item.
N-Tracking outlines the Class C control area in orange. Let's have a look at the London Terminal control area (TMA).
Click TMA
Class A.
The added details may be relevant for your
planning or viewing the outline of the airspace on the map may
be all you need.
Close the
information pane and let's move on to the last navigational
information tool -- COM
(Communication)
Areas.
Click the Close button.
Use the COM Areas layer to see where you may need to use different frequencies for flight communications. The operation of this layer is under development. Currently, only the area boundaries are visible -- detailed information is not available.
Click the COM
Areas
slider.
SUCCESS
You have added layers of navigational
information -- the outlines of restricted or controlled
airspaces. You have also learned how to view areas
using different frequencies for flight communications.
You have also learned the
importance of being sure that you're looking at information
relevant to high or low airspaces.
You're ready to
move on to other topics to continue learning how to best use
N-Tracking.