Class E at 1200 AGL

Sidious

Sidious

Well-Known Member
Question regarding Class E at 1200 AGL. All sectional charts state that "Class E begins at 1200 AGL unless otherwise depicted above"

So where does class G ever go above 1200 AGL?

The question comes up after looking at the Great Falls sectional where the Blue Vignette comes into play. Before it seemed obvious that Class G existed outside the blue vignette up to 14500 but if Class E exists everywhere starting at 1200 AGL how can this be?

Set me straight. Thanks

GreatFalls.jpg
 
On the hard side of the blue shaded area class E starts at 14,500' MSL, below that is class G and on the soft side class E starts at 1,200' AGL, class G below that. Class G cant exist higher then 14,500' in the US. Ahh airspace is fun.
 
So where does "exist at 1200 unless otherwise depicted" come into play?

On a florida sectional there are no blue vignettes and yet we take the "exists at 1200 AGL unless otherwise depicted" to mean that Class E starts at 1200 AGL all the time unless something says different.

The question is why does that not apply here?
 
Sidious said:
So where does "exist at 1200 unless otherwise depicted" come into play?

On a florida sectional there are no blue vignettes and yet we take the "exists at 1200 AGL unless otherwise depicted" to mean that Class E starts at 1200 AGL all the time unless something says different.

The question is why does that not apply here?
Click to expand...

Ummm...because it's otherwise depicted? Maybe I don't understand you. When you say 'why does that not apply here,' where is here? In Florida or on the sectional in the first post?
 
Try to think of it this way: When you see those blue bands like in the sectional you just posted, don't think "oh, here's class E that starts at 1,200." Think "Oh, there's class G on the outside of the blue band that goes up to 14,500. Class E does NOT start EVERYWHERE at 1,200, as evidenced by your sectional. However, on say a Chicago sectional, you won't find these blue bands anywhere and you can assume class E starts at 1,200 because it's "not otherwise designated." Your sectional is the "otherwise designated" part of this. Also, read the bit about the blue bands exist where class E "abuts" class G airspace which is what's happening here. You won't this kind of thing very often except out west.
 
Sidious said:
Question regarding Class E at 1200 AGL. All sectional charts state that "Class E begins at 1200 AGL unless otherwise depicted above"

So where does class G ever go above 1200 AGL?

The question comes up after looking at the Great Falls sectional where the Blue Vignette comes into play. Before it seemed obvious that Class G existed outside the blue vignette up to 14500 but if Class E exists everywhere starting at 1200 AGL how can this be?

Set me straight. Thanks
Click to expand...

"Unless otherwise depicted" refers to areas marked in a blue, zigzag line with the appropriate altitudes indicated in MSL. Several good examples are on the Great Falls sectional, southeast of Couer D'Alene, ID (KCOE). They are marked 6000 MSL, 7000 MSL, and 8500 MSL. Take a look at the legend, they are depicted there also.

gary
 
Sidious said:
So where does "exist at 1200 unless otherwise depicted" come into play?

On a florida sectional there are no blue vignettes and yet we take the "exists at 1200 AGL unless otherwise depicted" to mean that Class E starts at 1200 AGL all the time unless something says different.

The question is why does that not apply here?
Click to expand...

there are. look at the end of the map. particularly you can see it at way SE of keywest. pretty much the whole map is covered in it :)

class E and G can get confusing at times when they overlay eachother etc.
 
taseal said:
there are. look at the end of the map. particularly you can see it at way SE of keywest. pretty much the whole map is covered in it :)
Click to expand...


Ive seen that but if you look at another sectional - say Jacksonville there is no blue vignette so that theory is kinda out of the water.
 
the wide magenta lines are 700ft inside(fuzzy side) and 1200ft outside(hard side) so outside of those areas everything is 1200ft. that is how you know
 
Sidious said:
Ive seen that but if you look at another sectional - say Jacksonville there is no blue vignette so that theory is kinda out of the water.
Click to expand...
As I recall, once upon a time there was a lot more Class G to 14,500 msl and all sectionals had blue vignettes somewhere.

Then Class E starting at 1200 AGL became the overall norm and the charting convention became that you only saw the vignette (or one of the other indicators) to show where there was Class E on the chart that started at something other than 1200 AGL.

No airspace on the chart starts at something other than 1200 AGL? No need to show it on the chart.
 
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