iFly GPS Forum

Tnker, it appears that you've never dealt with gubmnt beaurocracy before.

"Tnker, it appears that you've never dealt with gubmnt beaurocracy before."

Really? (By the way, it's spelled "bureaucracy.") In 20 years in the aerospace/technology business I've probably dealt with a few hundred government employees. These range from Ft. Meade and the Pentagon in the East to Space Command and NASA-JPL in the West and many points in between. For the most part I have found them to be dedicated, even idealistic in the case of higher-ranked officers, and competent. And your point was ??

"If the charts are wrong, why wouldn't the controlling ATC facility report it?"

Probably because they don't check every chart against JO7400.9, instead assuming that the chart guys have gotten it right. My guess (no facts) is that when a new sectional comes in, it gets tossed into its home near the Local Controller position and is never even opened. Certainly they need to have it for unusual situations, but why would the controllers need the chart for normal operations, anyway?

"I refuse to believe it's such a cluster f*** as this thread implies."

Well, I don't agree with your conclusion but the facts are the facts and whether you believe them or not is irrelevant. There are people who refuse to believe the earth is round, too, but that does not make the earth flat.

Follow-on:

The OP described ambiguities at MFR. JO7400.9X says:

***********************************************
ANM OR D Medford, OR
Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, OR
(lat. 42°22'20"N, long. 122°52'21"W.)

That airspace extending upward from the surface to and including 3,800 feet MSL within a
4.1-mile radius of Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport. This Class D airspace area is
effective during the specific dates and times established in advance by a Notice to Airmen.
The effective date and time will thereafter be continuously published in the Airport/
Facility Directory.

AMENDMENTS 10/3/02 67 FR 51070 (Revised)
***********************************************

And the OP reported that the sectional "shows the radius of the MFR airspace as 5 statute miles." Well, 4.1NM is 4.71SM, so I'd guess that measuring carefully will probably reveal that 4.71SM is the diameter of the circle on the sectional. That's only a 6% difference from 5.0SM. I'm not sure my plotter is that accurate.

It was all the blather and pontificating about airspace that caused me to talk to the FAA. JO7400.9X is the answer to that. The error the OP saw at MFR is apparently due to the tower there using a different size (OP reports they said 5.0NM) for their airspace than the JO states. Are there other such situations around the country? Who knows?