Definition
The numbers printed inside each quadrangle of a sectional or VFR chart that show the highest known terrain or obstacle elevation in that quadrangle, rounded up and including a buffer for vertical accuracy. Expressed in thousands and hundreds of feet above mean sea level (MSL).
Plain English
On a VFR chart, each grid box has a big number that tells you the highest thing in that box — terrain, towers, antennas — rounded up. Fly above that number and you will clear everything in that box.
Context Anchor
Seen on sectional and other visual flight charts, usually inside each latitude-and-longitude grid box.
Why Pilots Care
Allows quick determination of the minimum altitude needed to clear all terrain and obstacles in a given area during VFR flight planning.
Intuition Check
“Figures” here means numbers, not drawings. “Maximum” does not mean a safe cruising altitude by itself; it means the highest known elevation in that chart area, rounded upward.
Example Sentence 1
Before crossing the ridge, she checked the maximum elevation figure for that quadrangle and climbed to 1,000 feet above it.
Example Sentence 2
On the sectional, the maximum elevation figures in the next quadrant read 8500, so the flight was planned at 9500 feet.