24.12.2014 Views

Airport Master Plan - City of Weslaco

Airport Master Plan - City of Weslaco

Airport Master Plan - City of Weslaco

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

depicted on Exhibit 1C, Area<br />

Airspace, as taken from the<br />

Brownsville Sectional Air Chart, May<br />

2000.<br />

As can be seen from the exhibit,<br />

<strong>Weslaco</strong> Mid Valley <strong>Airport</strong> is located<br />

within Class E airspace. The Class E<br />

airspace surrounding <strong>Weslaco</strong> Mid<br />

Valley <strong>Airport</strong> encompasses airspace<br />

700 feet above ground level (AGL) to<br />

1,200 feet AGL. The Class E airspace<br />

extends outward from the center <strong>of</strong> the<br />

airport to a radius <strong>of</strong> seven nautical<br />

miles. The Class E airspace has been<br />

extended outside the seven nautical<br />

mile radius to include the instrument<br />

approaches to Runway 13.<br />

At the southern edge <strong>of</strong> the seven mile<br />

radius <strong>of</strong> the Mid Valley <strong>Airport</strong> control<br />

area is the US Air Defense<br />

Identification Zone (ADIZ), a continuous<br />

zone for control <strong>of</strong> United States<br />

boundaries. To the east is the edge <strong>of</strong><br />

the Harlingen Valley International<br />

<strong>Airport</strong> Class C Airspace.<br />

Aircraft enroute or departing <strong>Weslaco</strong><br />

Mid Valley <strong>Airport</strong> may use VOR<br />

navigational facilities. The VOR or<br />

VORTAC facilities, as depicted on<br />

Exhibit 1C, Area Airspace are a<br />

system <strong>of</strong> Federal Airways, also referred<br />

to as Victor Airways. Victor Airways<br />

have been established to allow assured<br />

navigational capability along corridors<br />

<strong>of</strong> airspace eight miles wide and<br />

extending upward from 1,200 feet AGL<br />

to 18,000 feet MSL between VOR<br />

facilities. For further discussion <strong>of</strong><br />

Victor Airways refer to enroute<br />

navigational aids below.<br />

TERMINAL AREA AND<br />

ENROUTE NAVIGATIONAL AIDS<br />

Navigational aids are electronic devices<br />

that transmit radio frequencies which<br />

are received by pilots <strong>of</strong> properly<br />

equipped aircraft. These transmissions<br />

are translated into point-to-point<br />

guidance and position information. The<br />

types <strong>of</strong> navigational aids available for<br />

aircraft flying between airports include,<br />

the very high frequency omnidirectional<br />

range (VOR) facility which can also be<br />

equipped with Distance Measuring<br />

Equipment (DME); nondirectional radio<br />

beacon (NDB); and the global<br />

positioning system (GPS).<br />

The VOR, in general, provides azimuth<br />

readings to pilots <strong>of</strong> properly equipped<br />

aircraft by transmitting a radio signal<br />

at every degree to provide 360<br />

individual navigational courses.<br />

Frequently, distance measuring<br />

equipment (DME) is combined with a<br />

VOR facility to provide distance as well<br />

as direction information to the pilot. In<br />

addition, military tactical air<br />

navigation aids (TACANs) and civil<br />

VORs are commonly combined to form a<br />

VORTAC. A VORTAC provides<br />

distance and direction information to<br />

civil and military pilots. VORs can be<br />

positively identified by a series <strong>of</strong> Morse<br />

code transmissions that spell the three<br />

letter identifier.<br />

Mid Valley <strong>Airport</strong> is situated between<br />

two VOR facilities. The McAllen VOR-<br />

DME just west <strong>of</strong> <strong>Weslaco</strong> Mid Valley<br />

<strong>Airport</strong> is identified by the three letter<br />

identifier, MFE. Harlingen VOR is<br />

located to the east and identified by its<br />

1-15

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!