PLT058: Low Altitude Enroute Charts
What code PLT058 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Low Altitude Enroute Charts before your checkride.
Interpret information on a Low Altitude Chart
What this means for your checkride
The IFR low altitude enroute chart shows the airway system below 18,000 feet: Victor airways, navaids, intersections and fixes, minimum altitudes such as the MEA and MOCA, distances, and communication frequencies. It is the roadmap for enroute IFR navigation.
Enroute IFR navigation runs off this chart, so the FAA tests reading airways, fixes, minimum altitudes, and frequencies from it.
Pilots confuse the low and high charts. Below 18,000 feet you use the low enroute chart and its Victor airways; the high chart and jet routes apply in Class A airspace.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.