FAA Aviation Maps

Others have posted links to the FAA's website where these raster charts can be downloaded. But did you know that the US Government also used to make this kind of data available in a structured computer-readable format called DAFIF[1]? You could (I did) write a parser that chewed through these files and produced most of the information contained on these charts yourself, render them as vector graphics, and do all kinds of exciting aviation data mining on them. It was worldwide, too, not limited to the US. Sadly the NGA ended publication of this format in 2006 citing vague intellectual property issues. For a brief, beautiful moment, though, you could build your own electronic charts.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFIF

Technically these are referred to as "charts" and not maps. :)

Another fun (and free!) resource is SkyVector, which automatically stitches them together and has tons of useful features for flight planning.

https://skyvector.com/

If you play flight sims it's a lot of fun planning and then actually flying to a new destination using only those paper charts (or Skyvector as indicated by another commenter). No GPS or in-game maps allowed, just use your compass, clock, radionavigation and possibly visual landmarks like the old days.

Then try that at night or during a storm for a even more intense challenge.

These resources, particularly in machine-readable format, have been invaluable for the simulator community, and for simulated ATC in particular.

For an example, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlauVZ_5Le0, a virtual controller operating a chunk of New York airspace. As he moves around the screen (for example, around 21:30), you can see he has various fixes displayed. Those will be important fixes from various approaches, and their coördinates will be coming from machine-readable data, ultimately (in the US, at least) coming from the FAA.

All of this is possible thanks to these materials, as products of the U.S. Government, not being subject to copyright in the United States.

I will say, one important thing that's missing is publicly-available mappings of three-dimensional airspace (latitude, longitude, and altitude) to ATC sectors, and mappings of ATC sectors to frequencies. If you had that, you could (for example) look at your flight's location (in FlightAware or the ADS-B Exchange), work out the likely frequency for the airspace, and (if it's available) listen to your flight on LiveATC).

Source: Was a VATSIM controller, controlling up to & including Indianapolis Center.

The nice thing with the digital charts is you can print out a cut up bit of your cross country, scribble it all full of notes and frequencies, and chuck that page of the flight behind you when it is no longer relevant. A nice, zoomed in sectional and entirely disposable.

The actual files are here, for those who are interested. https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_...

I truly believe aviation, mostly general, is one of the things the U.S. does best, by far. I have no idea if other countries have these kinds of charts available to the public, printed or digitally (I assume many do) but combined with the relative freedom you have to fly as a regular private citizen and the sheer # of public airports, it's amazing. I highly recommend a demo to anyone who can afford it and has even a passing interesting.

When I was learning to fly, I loved combing over these VFR sectionals. Hell, I still do!

You can often find expired sectional charts (1:500,000) available at a discount. One example: https://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/7089

Sadly, the WAC (world aeronautical chart, 1:1,000,000) is no longer available digitally or printed. Great map for a wall, just for casual planning and what ifs, for real and wannabe pilots alike.

The TAC (terminal area chart, 1:250,000). These are only available for congested areas.

All three are VFR charts sharing the same (or similar) legend.

From one of the examples in the article: http://airnav.com/ click on the airports tab. Enter KATL then enter. Scroll down about 3/4 of the way (or search for jedi) and to the right you'll see pages 1 and 2 of the JJEDI THREE standard terminal arrival. In general, when your airline flight starts to descend, it's starting an arrival transition (from enroute to terminal). These are a bit more text oriented than terminal arrivals, essentially containing just speeds and altitudes at specific way points, so that ATC doesn't have to keep repeating the same arrival instructions to everyone.

Anyway, you do not need to download the entire TPP booklet for a region to find IAPs, SIDs, and STARs, you can navigate to an airport on airnav.com and they have individual "plates" kindof an archaic term today but no doubt at one time these were metal plates, rolled with ink, and pressed onto paper, before desktop publishing came along and turned everything into PDF.

Another place for various aeronautical charts along with traffic is https://globe.adsbexchange.com/

I just heard the voice of my instructor in my head. It is NOT a map. It is a chart. :-X

This is a nice website, however there are factual inaccuracies and watered down information. For example, "Visual Flight Rules” (VFR) apply when there is generally good visibility, and features on the ground can be discerned by the pilot." Well, NO. There are speciifc requirements. 14 CFR § 91.155, states (in the worst case scenario) you need 3 statute miles of visibility; 500 feet below, 1000 feet above 1 statute mile horizontal separation from clouds. The previous limits are dependent on the airspace type you are in.

But it is nothing like, yeah, looks about right, so we can fly with VFR. Best case scenario, your wings will be clipped, at least for a while; worst case scenario, you will get a headstone earlier than you should have and your next of kin would be sued for damages.

http://vfrmap.com is nice. Has multiple layers, works on desktop and mobile. Not for navigational use.

I can relate to the author's story about discovering his dad's charts as a kid and being fascinated by them. I'd forgotten how much I poured over those things, especially with how dense they are. I'm sort of prompted to visit an FBO and grab some expired charts for my kids. (Do FBOs even still have that stuff just lying around? It has been decades.)

I feel like this is going to get me on a list since they're likely classified military data, but I've always wanted to see modern submarine charts (not cables). Mostly for the notation and aesthetics and whether it differs from nautical charts.

There is (was?) a shop in Washington DC that sells/sold these OTC. A pleasure to browse. I had a North Atlantic chart that I'd pass to cabin crew, and pilots would chart the flight. I had quite a collection of flights on that chart. Dates & names.

9 months ago I wrote a data pipeline to clip the ttp maps to their “neet line”. Pretty fun project. This was so our mapping software would allow users to toggle visibility of different legends or change the opacity of different legends.

> there may be no product with a higher information density than the Federal Aviation Administration’s aviation maps

That's the truth. I can't get Google Maps to shot show me a street name.

But every little squiggle on an aviation chart has information.

What a cool post!

Carter, I can see my house /s