On 6/21/2005 06:40, Gary Drescher wrote:

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:IFUte.272$2s.101@trndny02...
Gary Drescher wrote:

Note though that it refers to "populated" places, not "congested" places.
"Congested" has technical meaning in the FARs (regarding altitude rules),
and it's not clear whether "populated" means the same thing.

It doesn't. According to the local FAA, the beaches around here are
congested areas during the summer season. They aren't congested in the
winter. Sandy Hook during summer is an example of an unpopulated congested
area.

Good point. I wonder though about the converse--are populated areas always
considered congested, or can there be (sparsely) populated areas that are
considered uncongested?

Well, the purpose of the detail on the chart is to provide visual cues
as to your location with respect to the populated area. Not (as far as
I know) to determine whether or not you are over a "congested" area.

However, when I was flying ultralights (which cannot be flown over
congested areas at all), my instructor would not let me fly over areas
depicted as populated on the sectional. I think he was going overboard,
but as a training rule, it was fine.

From what I've seen/read, what is or is not a congested area is not
defined well. Perhaps there are some 'legal interpretations' out there
that I've not seen yet.


--Gary




--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Student
Sacramento, CA