Going Places
Three signs
Airport signs come in many varieties
Location: These signs signify the taxiway you are currently on, and have yellow lettering on a black background. It can sometimes be helpful to look beyond a taxiway intersection to a location sign to verify you’re headed in the right direction.
Direction: With black lettering on a yellow background, these signs tell us which taxiway comes next or how to find a taxiway. Sometimes they include an arrow to make it easier to spot. So if you’re on Delta and looking for Alpha, continue until you see an “A” with an arrow and turn after the sign.
Mandatory: Important intersections, such as the entry to a runway, will have white lettering on a red background. Runway hold-short signs, runway numbers at each runway end, off-limits areas, and others are included in this group.
Busy airports can have complex layouts that make getting around on the ground the hardest part of your flight. Thankfully, the signs that tell us where we are and where we’re going are standardized, so once you learn the basics you will be able to use that knowledge no matter where you go.
By now you probably know that runways are numbered based on their magnetic orientation and taxiways are lettered based on…what exactly? Just as most streets in a downtown area have arbitrary names that belie any sort of a system, taxiway letters vary by airport and usually don’t hold to any logic. So start by ignoring the reason you taxi from Alpha onto Delta and instead simply follow the signs and the air traffic controller’s instructions.
Airport signs come in a variety of categories: location, direction, mandatory, and information. By knowing the look of each sign you’ll know which taxiway you’re on and which one comes off the passing intersections.
Here’s an important tip when looking at airport signs: In almost all cases they sit prior to the intersection. That may be obvious with a standard 90-degree intersection, but when you fly at a busy airport where multiple taxiways come off at varying angles, it’s helpful to know which sign is pointing to which taxiway or runway.
Flash cards
The AOPA Air Safety Institute has developed a set of handy flash cards that make learning airport signs and markings fun and easy. You can find them online.
Tips from PIC
Confusing icons
How to decipher chart details
Q. I’m having trouble locating a reference for a few confusing icons on my VFR sectional chart. What materials are available that can decode these foreign shapes?
A. The first place to look for the chart legend is on the borders of your chart, but these days that may not be as easy as it sounds. Many pilots have tossed their paper charts in favor of digital apps that provide easily updated charts in a convenient format. Unfortunately, finding the chart legend for your sectional may take some digging; check the app developer’s website for support.
The FAA Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide is the best reference for deciphering all chart shapes and icons, since it covers both VFR and IFR charts in one comprehensive document. You can find the guide on the FAA website.
Many aviation apps also have a library function. To access the chart user’s guide in ForeFlight Mobile, you can tap the Documents button, then tap on Catalog, FAA, and then select the Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide for download. The document is now downloaded on your tablet and can be referenced at any time, including in the air when no internet connection is available.
If you need assistance with IFR charts, you can also check out the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s online course IFR Insight: Charts online, or contact AOPA’s Pilot Information Center at 800-872-2672 or email [email protected].
