Class E and G airspace

[JFlighttt]

Ok so I have two instructors that are arguing about class E and G airspace. I am going crazy listening to everything they are saying and I would like to get some straight forward answers from the JC guys.

Instructor 1 (this is as I was taught ever since I started flying):

Image 1
Sector 1: Class G from ground to 700 AGL
RED Class E from 700 AGL to A/17,999MSL

Sector 2: Class G from ground to 1200 AGL
RED Class E from 1200 AGL to A
Image 2
Sector 1: Class G from SFC to 1200 AGL (or as depicted on airway)
RED Class E from 1200 AGL (or as depicted on airway) up to A

Sector 2: Class G from surface to 14,500 MSL
BLACK Class E from 14,500 MSL to A

Instructor 2:

Image 1
Sector 1: Class G from ground to 700 AGL
Class E from 700 AGL to A

Sector 2: Class E from SFC to 17,999 MSL (he's saying there is NO class G airspace in this region between the magenta circles)

Image 2
Sector 1: Class G from SFC to 1200AGL (or as depicted on airway)
Class E from 1200 AGL (or as depicted) to 17,999

Sector 2: Class E from SFC to 17,999 (just like image 1, Sector 2: he's saying there is no class G here and it is class E from the SFC to A yet the airway just next to it is the same thing except it has G underneath it? Doesn't make sense)

I am still trying to wrap my mind around it as I was taught by Instructor 1.

 

[z987k]

Instructor 2 is wrong on all accounts that he disagrees with instructor 1.

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

Instructor #2 is wrong and needs to listen to instructor #1. If you are accurately reproducing their explanation, then #2 really has no clue as to what controlled airspace actually is or what it's used for. I'm hoping #2 hasn't attempted to teach this to anyone yet....


Class G ALWAYS starts at the surface, unless there is controlled airspace at the surface to displace it.

On images 1 & 2, there is NO controlled airspace at the surface. Therefore, class G MUST begin at the surface.

If you are on the hard side of the shaded blue line, G starts at the surface and ends at 14,500 MSL.

If you are on the shaded side of the blue, G starts at the surface and goes up to 1200 AGL.

If you are on the shaded side of the magenta, G starts at the surface and goes up to 700 AGL.

What begins when class G ends? Controlled airspace... Surface E, D, C & B are pretty obvious. A always starts at 18,000. E is everywhere else.

If there is no other controlled airspace on top of or displacing G, then class E starts at either the surface, 700 AGL, 1200 AGL, 14,500 MSL.

You can also have the area defined by a blue thatched line where class G ends "as depicted" by a number on the chart in MSL.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

Wow.

 

[PropSettin']

Echo from the surface to 17999???? I remember myyyy first airspace lesson.

 

[rd757]

Sounds like Instructor 2 needs a remedial airspace lesson from Instructor 1.

 

[JFlighttt]

All settled out. Unfortunetly CFI 2 DID teach other students that way for the past 12 years. He didn't understand that the blue faded line borders the whole US and ANY airspace that is not depicted as anything else is all blue between the magenta circed airports, therefore it is all class G from SFC to 1200 and thereafter class E.

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Did you get a refund on your ground training?

 

[comfortablynumb]

12 years

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

There is no face palm big enough to handle this...

 

[web265]

Big enough?

 

[Ash Williams]

There is no face palm big enough to handle this...

This

 

[Ash Williams]

If you really want to blow his mind, ask him what airspace he would be in over Key West, FL at 20,000 feet. Mention, "Something about part 71."

 

[rd757]

If he's been teaching it that way for 12 years, I wonder how many poor souls there are running around thinking what he said is the truth.... hopefully another instructor somewhere in their career straightened it out.

 

[inigo88]

This is so strange... All you have to do is look at the chart legend...

 

[rframe]

If he's been teaching it that way for 12 years, I wonder how many poor souls there are running around thinking what he said is the truth.... hopefully another instructor somewhere in their career straightened it out.

How many people really care, outside of a flight review or practical?

 

[ASpilot2be]

There is airspace other than e and g?

 

[inigo88]

How many people really care, outside of a flight review or practical?

Good example I heard recently: "Remain clear of the Class E surface area" when on a Special VFR. That can bite you.

 

[z987k]

How many people really care, outside of a flight review or practical?

VFR in G with less than 3SM or VFR above 10k in E you'd need 5SM, but not if you're actually in G.

For the people that don't just fly the same routes for 10 years you have to know these things.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

VFR in G with less than 3SM or VFR above 10k in E you'd need 5SM, but not if you're actually in G.

For the people that don't just fly the same routes for 10 years you have to know these things.

Yes, but his point was "how many people really care." By far most professional pilots fly IFR and most non-professional pilots who fly VFR do so in much better conditions than the minimums. I think in 22 years, I thought twice about being in Class G instead of Class E and in both cases it was about being in uncontrolled airspace under IFR rather than VFR (practically, not acedemically, speaking).