Within the aero chart folder there are four options. Additionally, they can familiarize themselves with unfamiliar airports, checkpoints and destinations with this invaluable flight-planning tool. Google Earth allows pilots to visualize terrain, buildings and weather, among other things, over sectional charts. (Because it’s frequently updated, be sure that you have the latest version.) Next, log on to (Type this address exactly as it appears here if you lowercase the “A” in “Aeronautical” or capitalize the “i” in “in,” the link won’t work.) Scroll down to “Sources and Citations,” and click on “Sectional data download.” Once the sectional data has downloaded, you should see a folder labeled “Aero Charts” under “Places” in the Google Earth sidebar.Īn uncontrolled airport near Crawford, Colo. Best of all, it’s free!ĭownload Google Earth at. Now, before you even get in the airplane, you can use sectional chart overlays on Google Earth to show you exactly what to expect on a flight. But it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. Even with the fanciest GPS units guiding you, it can still be hard to identify certain things from the air. Try finding some obscure grass strip down south-it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Flying in unfamiliar territory and into strange new airports can be quite a task, primarily because you’ve never seen the scenery before. After a few moments of panic and rechecking of numbers, I looked down, and (aha!) there it was.Īnyone who has flown long enough can appreciate how this type of scenario can happen.
The time to my last waypoint, the destination airport, had expired, yet the field was nowhere in sight. To this day, I can remember a rather “interesting” experience that occurred on a long solo cross-country while I was pursuing my private pilot license (almost 20 years ago).