Definition
A sectional is a VFR aeronautical chart published by the FAA covering a specific region of the United States at a scale of 1:500,000. It depicts terrain, airspace boundaries, airports, navigation aids, obstructions, and visual landmarks used for visual flight rules navigation.
Plain English
A sectional is the standard paper or digital map pilots use for flying by sight. It shows what's on the ground, where the airspace boundaries are, and where the airports and radio aids sit, all for one slice of the country.
Context Anchor
Pilots use sectionals during preflight planning, ground instruction, scenario-based training, and in flight when checking a visual route.
Derivation
Called 'sectional' because the FAA divides the country into sections, and each chart covers one of those sections. The name simply reflects that the U.S. is broken into pieces for chart coverage rather than printed as one giant map.
Why Pilots Care
Provides the essential visual reference for safe navigation, terrain avoidance, and airspace compliance during VFR operations.
Intuition Check
Do not read sectional here as a general adjective meaning “divided into sections.” In aviation, a sectional is a specific type of chart used for visual flight planning and navigation.
Example Sentence 1
Before the cross-country flight, the student spread the sectional across the table and traced the route with a pencil.
Example Sentence 2
During the flight review, the instructor pointed out a new obstacle that had been added to the sectional since the previous edition.