SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-sectional-scale

What is the scale of a VFR sectional chart?

1 to 500,000, about 6.86 nautical miles per inch.

  1. 1 to 500,000 ✔
  2. 1 to 250,000
  3. 1 to 1,000,000

Why: The FAA handbook says sectional charts use a 1:500,000 scale, so one inch covers about 6.86 nautical miles, or roughly 8 statute miles. That scale leaves room for lots of detail.

Huh, didn't know that: Sectionals are the most common charts used by VFR pilots.

The dad joke
Why can't a nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.
Like this card?
Play the game

Sources

  1. Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapter 16 Navigation (FAA-H-8083-25C) https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/18_phak_ch16.pdf

Test yourself in the game

Flying & DronesOn aeronautical charts, what do broken magenta isogonic lines connect?Flying & DronesRunway 27 is aligned closest to what direction?Flying & DronesConverting a true course to magnetic, what do you do with an easterly variation?

That's stuff everyone should know.