Approach Chart Explorer
Select a chart element and see its meaning: fixes, courses, altitudes, minima, frequencies, segments, missed approach and symbols.
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The chart is laid out like an FAA instrument approach chart: margins with the title, airport and amendment; the briefing strip (navigation aid, final approach course, landing distance and elevations; notes, approach lights and the missed approach in words; the communication frequencies in the order you use them); the plan view to scale; the profile with the missed approach icons; the landing minimums by approach category; the airport sketch with the lighting notes and the FAF-to-MAP time table.
Tap or click any element, choose it in the list, or put the focus on the chart and use the arrow keys: the readout says what it is, what this chart prints there, what it means for you, a note on this procedure where it matters, and the FAA publication it comes from. Show zooms to one section, which makes the small print readable on a phone.
Find the element asks eight questions such as the missed approach holding fix, the touchdown zone elevation or the circling minimums. Tap your answer (or choose it in the list and press Check): a wrong choice is marked in coral and the right element in purple. Six of eight is a pass.
Assumption: the ILS or LOC RWY 32 chart of Mansfield Lahm Regional (MFD) is a redrawing of the FAA chart of the cycle 1 to 29 October 2026 (Amendment 18), for training only: it is not current after that cycle and never for navigation — fly from the current FAA publication. The two other charts are schematic: fictional procedures with illustrative values, drawn in the same layout to show elements the real chart does not have; never real procedures. The redrawing leaves out the grey water areas of the plan view and is drawn in this site's colours; the profile is not to scale (as on FAA charts), the plan view and the airport sketch are.
Layout and symbols after the FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide (edition effective 9 July 2026), Terminal Procedures Publication section (margin identification p. 99–100, briefing strip p. 101–104, plan view p. 105–114, missed approach information p. 115, profile p. 116–119, landing minimums p. 120–121, airport sketch and time / distance table p. 121–122) and the legend pages of the U.S. Terminal Procedures Publication, cycle 2610 (plan view and profile symbols, MSA and TAA, approach lighting systems, PAPI / VASI, airport sketch); altitude restrictions per AIM 5-4-5 b, MSA 5-4-5 c, TAA 5-4-5 d, VDP 5-4-5 h, minimums 5-4-20, missed approach 5-4-21; radar required, pilot controlled lighting and the part-time star from the TPP General Information pages.
The training copy was transcribed from the FAA d-TPP plate of cycle 2610 (AL-860, date of latest revision 25331, Amdt 18 02OCT25) and checked against the FAA coded instrument procedure data of the same cycle: fix positions, threshold elevation 1,290 ft, threshold crossing height 46 ft, the localizer, magnetic variation 6° W, the coded missed approach (direct UPIYO at 3,000 ft, hold inbound 142.8°, 4.0 NM, right turns). Distances and courses computed from those positions reproduce the plate (6.4, 3.1 and 1 NM; 323°), as do the glide slope altitude over MANNS (2,625 ft) and the time table (3.1 NM at 60–180 kt).
Element meanings are written in plain words from those publications; each one names its source. The schematic charts use invented names (checked to be absent from the FAA coded data of the cycle) and values that respect the chart conventions.
- FAA Aeronautical Chart Users' Guide, edition effective 9 July 2026, Terminal Procedures Publication section: margin identification (p. 99–100), briefing strip (p. 101–104), plan view (p. 105–114), missed approach information and icons (p. 115), profile view (p. 116–119), landing minimums (p. 120–121), airport sketch and time / distance table (p. 121–122)
- U.S. Terminal Procedures Publication, cycle 2610 (1–29 Oct 2026): legend pages Instrument Approach Procedures (plan view symbols, MSA, TAA, profile view, airport diagram / sketch, approach lighting systems, PAPI / VASI) and General Information (radar required, pilot controlled lighting, non-continuous operation, magnetic courses)
- Aeronautical Information Manual (effective 9 July 2026): 5-4-5 a 3, b 1–5, c, d, h (instrument approach charts, altitudes, MSA, TAA, VDP); 5-4-7 (approach categories); 5-4-20 (approach and landing minimums); 5-4-21 (missed approach); 14 CFR 91.175 (c), (e)
- Training copy: FAA d-TPP cycle 2610, ILS or LOC RWY 32, Mansfield Lahm Regional (MFD), Mansfield, Ohio, AL-860 (FAA), Amdt 18 02OCT25, date of latest revision 25331, volume EC-2; positions, threshold elevation and the coded missed approach from the FAA Coded Instrument Flight Procedures of the same cycle — redrawn for training, not current after 29 Oct 2026, not for navigation
- Model choices of this tool (stated on the page): two fictional schematic charts with illustrative values; the redrawing omits the water areas of the plan view; profile not to scale, plan view and airport sketch to scale