PLT100: IFR En Route Low Altitude Charts
What code PLT100 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study IFR En Route Low Altitude Charts before your checkride.
Recall aeronautical charts - IFR En Route Low Altitude
What this means for your checkride
IFR En Route Low Altitude charts show the airway structure below 18,000 feet MSL: victor airways, navaids and their frequencies, intersections, the minimum en route and obstruction clearance altitudes, and the controlling ATC frequencies. They are the road map for instrument flight in the low-altitude structure.
Instrument pilots plan and fly by these charts, so the FAA tests reading airways, altitudes, and navaid data from the En Route Low Altitude chart.
A minimum en route altitude guarantees navigation signal and obstruction clearance, not necessarily communications or radar coverage, which can require a higher minimum reception altitude.
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.