are you looking for some extra private pilot study material you're in the right place because today on free pilot training we're going to be studying class c air space here's a quick overview of what we're going to be talking about today and as you can see this lesson is jam packed full of information i'm even going to touch on radio communications which is often one of the hardest parts of becoming a private pilot so let's get started by taking a quick look at some of the characteristics of class charlie airspace the first thing you'll notice
about class charlie is that it's similar to class bravo in that it's also shaped like an upside down wedding cake because of this pilots can fly underneath one of those shelves and still stay out of the class c airspace let's see how this would look on a vfr sectional you can identify class charlie airspace by these solid magenta rings surrounding the airfield every airfield with class charlie airspace is a little different in some way but typically you'll see a five mile ring surrounding the airfield that starts at the surface and goes up to 4000 feet
agl then most of the time that outer ring is a 10 mile radius from the airfield the bottom of this airspace usually starts at 1200 agl and goes up to 4000 agl you can find out the exact altitude of this airspace by taking a look at the vfr sectional just like in class b airspace we have these numbers that look like they're improper fractions these are the altitudes where our airspace starts and where it ends in this case the class c starts at 2 300 msl and goes up to 4700 msl then on this inner
ring you can see that the top's also 4700 msl but this one starts at the surface one thing to keep in mind about class charlie is that these outer rings can be segmented that just means the bottom of the air space could start at a different altitude time for a quick quiz i'm flying inside this outer ring at 2 000 feet msl am i in the class c airspace yet the answer is no the class c starts at two thousand three hundred here i think you've got that down now let's look at some of the
rules you need to know first we need to establish two-way radio communications with atc prior to entry then we need to maintain those communications while within the airspace unlike class bravo we only need to establish two-way radio communications we don't have to be clear to go into class charlie airspace let's take a look at how we can do that by talking about the radio communications remember this format let's use it again who they are who you are where you are and what you want first things first you'll notice on the vfr sectional that they want
you to contact the approach controllers within 20 nautical miles of the airfield while this is not required this is to help you out atc needs time to find you on radar and while you don't have to be clear to enter class charlie airspace they can tell you to avoid class charlie until they find you on radar and anytime we get instruction from atc we need to comply with those instructions so do yourself a favor and contact them once you get within 20 miles okay so i'm flying my cessna 152 into tulsa international airport i'm 20
nautical miles to the northwest at 3500 msl i just listened to the atus and they're playing information tango let's call them up real quick tulsa approach cessna 6789 x-ray 20 nautical miles to the northwest 3500 with tango request straight in to runway 1 8 left now remember the first thing we need to go into this airspace is to establish two-way radio communications so we need to hear a full call sign back if you hear aircraft calling and then something else you have an established two-way radio communications yet in this case we can't go into the
class charlie airspace yet but as long as they read back our full call sign we can go ahead and proceed into the class charlie airspace unless of course they specifically tell us not to enter yet even if you hear cessna 6789 x-ray stand by you've still established two-way radio communications and they aren't specifically telling you to avoid class charlie airspace so you've met the requirements and now you can come in okay so let's say they called us back cessna 6789 x-ray tulsa approach descend and maintain 2500 squawk0223 now we've heard our full call sign so
we can go in now there's a couple things that we need to do we need to descend and maintain 2500 and squawk 0-2-2-3 now just repeat the numbers and add your call sign to the end so they know you heard correctly descend and maintain two thousand five hundred squawk zero two two three cessna six seven eight nine x-ray then once they find you on radar you might hear something like this cessna six 6789 x-ray radar contact fly heading 180 make straight in for runway one eight right now it's always really important to pay attention to
what atc says because if you remember i asked for one eight left but they gave me one eight right now i could ask if they'll allow me to change to 1 8 left but it's really important to land on the runway they tell you to for today 1 8 writes better anyway so i'll just call them back heading 180 make straight in for runway one eight right cessna six seven eight nine x-ray then once approach is ready to hand you off to tower you'll hear cessna 6789 x-ray contact tower now 118.7 just repeat the frequency
and your call sign that's all they need to hear 118.7 cessna 6789 x-ray once we switch frequencies let's give them a quick call tulsa tower cessna 6789 x-ray on a 5-mile straight in for runway one eight right today's an easy day you hear cessna 6789 x-ray clear to land runway 1-8 right when it comes to landing clearances they need to hear every bit of that information back so today i'm going to respond by saying clear to land runway 1 8 right cessna 6789 xray now let's take a look at the vfr weather minimums for class
charlie airspace this is the worst weather you can have and still be legal to fly vfr first is three statute miles visibility that means we need to be able to see for three miles next we need to be able to stay away from the clouds we need to stay at least 500 feet below the clouds two thousand feet from the sides and a thousand feet above a really good memory aid for this is 3152 or three 152s as in cessna 152s if you can remember that you'll have the numbers memorized you'll just have to remember
which ones go where the last thing we'll talk about today is the equipment required to fly into class c airspace first is a working two-way radio remember we need two-way radio communications to go into class c airspace so that makes sense next we need a working transponder with mode c that just means it reports our altitude to air traffic control when it comes to transponders they all have to have mode c capability in order to go into class charlie but in addition to that they also need to be capable of 4096 which is mode 3a
or mode s you don't need to know what these do you just need to know that your transponder needs to be capable of mode c and one of these one thing to keep in mind is that if we stay below the class c shelf we don't need a transponder but if we fly over the top of the class c airspace we do need a transponder by the way a huge thank you to bold method for letting me use some of their graphics if you haven't been to their website be sure and go check them out
they've got lots of different free study material to help clarify some of these subjects i'll throw a link in the description if you want to check that out the last piece of equipment we need to operate in class charlie is adsb now while you really don't need to know what it stands for you do need to know that you need adsb out this piece of equipment tells atc your position through satellite instead of radar in class charlie airspace anywhere you need a transponder you also need adsb now as someone pointed out in my last video
there are some exceptions to these adsb requirements if you think you qualify be sure to check part 91-225 you want to be 100 certain that you meet these exceptions before you go into class charlie without adsb because in most situations it is required hey before you get out of here today make sure your thumb lands on top of that like button for me and if you haven't already be sure to subscribe and hit the bell notification so you don't miss out on more free pilot training
