Chapter One Chart Legend Review

CHAPTER ONE

CHART LEGEND REVIEW

100.

INTRODUCTION

Low altitude, high-speed flight affords a tactical aircraft the element of surprise and protection

from enemy radar detection. These two factors greatly increase the probability of reaching your

target, executing your mission, and returning to base.

The success of any low-level mission depends on extensive preflight planning by the crew. The

proper charts must be selected to cover the route of flight to the target and the course to be flown

must be plotted on the chart. The Naval Flight Officer/Navigator (NFO/NAV) must be fluent

with the symbols used on the chart to successfully plan and navigate in the low-level

environment.

In this chapter you will review several types of aeronautical charts used for visual navigation and

the interpretation of chart symbols.

101.

AVAILABLE VISUAL REFERENCE CHARTS

Lambert Conformal Projections

The most common aeronautical chart, outside polar regions, is the Lambert Conformal Projection.

Some of the features making this chart type particularly useful are:

A straight line approximates a great circle. Therefore, courses and radial bearings can be

plotted with a straight edge.

The scale about a point is the same in all directions throughout a single chart. Hence, the

scales for nautical miles, statute miles, and kilometers printed on each chart can be used on any

portion of that sheet and in any direction.

Since it is conformal, angles are correctly represented and small shapes are correctly

proportioned. Consequently, land or water areas have substantially the same shape on the chart

as they appear from the air.

Aeronautical charts are differentiated on a functional basis by the type of information they

convey. Charts for enroute navigation fall into two major groups:

Those applicable to long range or high altitude navigation methods.

Those applicable to short range or low altitude navigation methods.

CHART LEGEND REVIEW

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