Class G and E airspace

[Tj1376]

Why am I an idiot?

When does class G extend all the way up to 14.5k? I get class G can go up to 700agl if the magenta line is around an uncontrolled airport. What I don't understand is when class G goes up to 1200 agl and when it goes all the way up.

Do you all have any ideas on how I can keep this straight? //images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/16/5b18c70098623bda05bb29e3ed8a79a3.jpg


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[Jim Logajan]

There is class G above 18000.

If there is, it's reasonably new. The old Continental Control Area started at 14,500 and went to infinity. The old Positive Control Area, now Class A, was from 18,000 to 60,000.

I suspect he's thinking of the airspace where the terrain is already above 13,300 ft MSL, with the tallest such area in the U.S. being around Mt. McKinley (20,320) to 1500 AGL
[*] that pushes Class G to as high as 21,820 MSL. Above where Class A normally begins.


[*] See Part 71; specifically 71.33(b) where they dictate 1500 rather the usual 1200. Only an evil examiner would expect someone to know the unusual 1500 ft exception.

I see nobody's answered you on this yet, so, yes, you are correct. 14.5k Class G is getting harder and harder to find. Even just 2 or 3 years ago, you could find a blue shaded line that went from (IIRC) North Dakota SW toward WY-ish, then generally southerly to the Mexican border, with a lot of zigs and zags and cutouts and such. Everything east of this line was 1200' Class G, everything west was 14.5k Class G unless otherwise shown, and, of course, large areas WERE otherwise shown.

Anymore, there are just a few self-enclosed areas of this airspace left. Eventually, I'm sure the last such area will go away, and then 20 years later references to it will be removed from the AIM and study materials and test questions...

They are rarer, but 1O6 (Dunsmuir-Mott) and O89 (Fall River Mills) are two examples of airports that lie under Class G that goes to 14,500. The area of northern California/southern Oregon has quite a complex mixture of airspace where Class G ceiling is higher than the usual 1200 AGL:

http://skyvector.com/?ll=41.66085773112519,-121.46553039191048&chart=301&zoom=5