Airspace questions on the Part 107 test are asked from sectional charts in the testing supplement, so you need to know both the rules and the symbols.
Controlled airspace needs authorization
- Class B: surface to 10,000 feet MSL around the busiest airports, layered like an upside-down wedding cake.
- Class C: surface to 4,000 feet above the airport, usually a 5 nautical mile surface area and a 10 nautical mile shelf from 1,200 to 4,000 feet.
- Class D: surface to 2,500 feet above an airport with an operating control tower. A part-time Class D becomes Class E or G when the tower closes.
- Class E surface area: controlled from the surface at an airport without an operating tower.
Under 14 CFR 107.41 you need prior authorization from Air Traffic Control to fly in any of these.
Airspace that does not
Other Class E usually begins at 1,200 feet AGL, in many areas at 700 feet AGL; it needs no authorization, and the 400-foot limit still keeps you below it. Class G is uncontrolled, from the surface up to the overlying Class E, and needs no ATC authorization.
Special use and temporary airspace
- Prohibited (P-) and restricted (R-) areas need permission from the using or controlling agency.
- Warning areas, MOAs and alert areas are not banned by Part 107, but call for extra caution.
- Temporary flight restrictions are issued by NOTAM; check NOTAMs before every flight.
- Military training routes carry fast, low traffic: four-digit routes stay at or below 1,500 feet AGL.
Reading the chart
- Class D is a blue dashed line, with its ceiling in a bracket in hundreds of feet MSL; a minus sign means up to but not including that value.
- Magenta shading marks a Class E floor at 700 feet AGL; blue shading a floor at 1,200 feet AGL.
- Towered airports print in blue, all others in magenta.
- Obstructions show the top in MSL with the height AGL in parentheses: 2049 (1149).
- A sectional's scale is 1:500,000, and charts are updated every 56 days.