These are some of my favorite links to third-party links on aviation info. Some of this third-party sites may collect data about you such as cookies, third-party tracking, analytics, and advertising, etc. I am not responsible for these other sites and these other sites may have their own privacy statements. As I have stated in my privacy policy you may want to access this blog or the third-party links listed here using the incognito or private settings on your browser where your cookies will be deleted at the end of your session. Or you may change your browsers cookie's settings.
I deleted a section on pilot communications because the site I linked to is not a secure site. I hope to find another site and if I do, I will revise this page.
As I went through ground school on the way to passing the FAA written private pilot's exam, I learned about a variety of aviation topics that I have been very useful to me as I continue to write about aerial wildland fire fighting, I present you with some links, by topic that I hope you will find useful.
Air space
Airspace for Everyone is one of the documents in the Safety Advisor Series from the Airplane Owner's and Pilot's Association's (AOPA) Air Safety Institute. In the short Airspace for Everyone document (SA02) you will learn about the different classes of airspace in the U.S., as mandated by the Federal Aviation Regulations. Illustrations accompany the text. I think that this is a good place to start if you want an overview of airspace in the U.S.
Wikipedia has an entry on the different classes of airspace, it may be found here.
Aeronautical Charts
There are two sources for aeronautical charts. Members of the AOPA have access to online flight planning tools using Jeppesen Charts. As an AOPA member, I have accessed Jeppesen charts through AOPA's online flight planning tools. I myself am more familiar with the aeronautical charts published by the National Charting Office (NACO) of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). While I have some very limited experience using Jeppesen charts as an AOPA member, I am not even remotely in a position to speak to the differences between Jeppesen and NACO charts. All I can say is that I understand that are differences between the two charts, and that pilots tend to prefer one set of charts over another.
For the complete scoop on all of NACO's aeronautical charts, there is the freely available FAA Aeronautical Chart User's Guide (revised June 2023).
The FAA makes digital versions of the NACO charts available for GPS devices. I have been able to read these files in my pdf viewer software. The files are very large. To access these charts go here.
Airports and facilities
There is a guide called the Airport/Facility Directory published by NACO that provides information about the various airports in the U.S. You may access it online here. If you are interested in all the airports in your particular state, including smaller general aviation airports, this directory might be a place to start. I takes a little getting used to. Here you will find the airport code, contact information for the airport, services available and the like.
For information about airports in the U.S, around the world, there is Flight Aware. Flight Aware might take some getting used to if you are a first time user and if you aren't familiar with airport codes. I don't know about you, but I found it difficult to search for an airport on Flight Aware by entering the name of the city and state. In addition to information about airports, you can also track a specific commercial flight, and track flights.
You might find it easier to use flight aware for information about a specific airport if you know the code for the airport you are interested in. Here is a website where you can find the code for many "major" world airports . What is an airport code? For example, the code for Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ is "EWR".
Finding airport codes for the smaller airports in the U.S., including the small "general aviation" airports requires another source. A friend told me about this site where you can access codes for all US Airports by State: US ICAO Location Finder.
Alternatively, you can go to wikipedia and typing in "list of airports in your state", where you substitute the State you are interested in for "your state".
If you are interested in airport codes for the larger airports, you can get the codes for class B airports in the US and class C airports in the US. Most, but not all of the airports served by the commercial airlines in the US are either class B or C airports.
Weather
For a brief overview of weather written with pilots in mind, check the AOPA Air Safety Institute's safety advisory, Weatherwise Safety Advisory.
For more detailed information on weather for pilots, the Air Safety Institute (ASI) has a few interactive courses: ceilings and visibility, air masses and fronts, precipitation and icing, thunder storms and ATC. They may be found here. At the time I write this (October 31, 2020) the information from the ASI is freely available to all, but may require registering for a free online account
AIM, FAR, FAA Publications
Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM). There is a lot of info in here (over 400 pages), and can be a little overwhelming at first. It is published in hard form with the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). You may find the AIM listed on this FAA Page, look under Manuals for the latest AIM.
Federal Aviation Regulations. The regs. I only refer to the online version when I can't find what I am looking for in my hard copy.
Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA), I have a now dog eared copy that I picked up in ground school. It tends to be a little technical at times.
Airport/Facility Directory contains a variety of information for airports, navigational aids, and other pertinent information. Files are selected by state. If you aren't familiar with the airport id's, select all airport id's and then go down the list and find the airport by town, in addition you may want to download the legend and supplemental files.
FAA Handbooks and Manuals. Links to other documents you can download from the FAA.
