Definition
AeroNav Products is the FAA office responsible for designing, producing, and distributing official U.S. government aeronautical charts and flight information publications, including instrument approach procedure charts, departure procedures, arrival procedures, en route charts, and airport diagrams. Its products are the source charts referenced in FAA handbooks and used for instrument flight procedures.
Plain English
AeroNav is the FAA group that makes the official paper and digital flight charts pilots use, including approach plates, en route charts, and airport diagrams.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA handbooks and chart discussions when identifying where airport diagrams, sketches, and instrument procedure charts come from.
Derivation
AeroNav is short for 'Aeronautical Navigation.' 'Aero' comes from the Greek aēr, meaning air. 'Nav' is short for navigation, from the Latin navigare, to sail or steer. Together it simply means 'air navigation,' which is exactly what the office's products support.
Why Pilots Care
When a handbook, briefing, or instructor refers to an 'AeroNav chart' or 'AeroNav diagram,' they mean the official FAA-produced version. Knowing the source matters because AeroNav charts are the legal reference for instrument procedures in U.S. airspace; commercial chart providers (such as Jeppesen) publish their own versions of the same procedures in a different format.
Intuition Check
Do not read AeroNav as a piece of aircraft equipment. In this context, it means the FAA charting product source, not something installed in the airplane.
Example Sentence 1
The airport diagram in the handbook is reproduced from an AeroNav product, so it matches what the pilot will see on the official FAA chart.
Example Sentence 2
Updates from AeroNav ensured the instrument approach plate reflected current runway lighting changes.