Lesson B2 1:24 7 of 26
How to read the data block of a towered airport, with Salinas Municipal as the example.
The video plays from YouTube. FAA San Francisco Sectional, effective 29 OCT 2026. Not for navigation.
Airports with a control tower are printed in blue. All other airports are printed in magenta. Next to each airport is a block of data. This is the block for Salinas Municipal. CT means control tower. The tower frequency is 119.525. The star means the tower is part-time.
A C in a circle after a frequency means it is also the CTAF. When the tower is closed, use it to announce your position. ATIS is on 124.85. Listen to it before you call the tower. The next line starts with 84. That is the field elevation in feet MSL.
L means runway lights from sunset to sunrise. The star in front means there are limits on the lighting. The Chart Supplement explains them. 60 is the length of the longest runway in hundreds of feet. That is about 6,000 feet. 123.0 is the UNICOM frequency.
RP means right traffic pattern. Runways 8 and 31 use right traffic. Monterey reads the same way. Its tower is on 118.4, and it is part-time too. Its longest runway is about 7,200 feet. Reid-Hillview lists two tower frequencies, one for each of its parallel runways. The C follows 119.8, so that is the CTAF.
Before you fly, check the current chart, the Chart Supplement and NOTAMs.
A discovery flight is actual flight training with a certified flight instructor at the Salinas Airport. Your hands on the controls, with the chart on your knee.
