Class C Airspace

Class C surrounds a busier airport with a control tower and radar approach control. The chart draws it with a solid magenta band. This is Monterey Class C. Each area shows two numbers. The top is the ceiling and the bottom is the floor, in hundreds of feet MSL. In the inner area, 42 over SFC means from the surface up to and including 4,200 feet MSL.

The outer ring is a shelf. On the west side it reads 42 over 15. Below 1,500 feet MSL there, you are outside Class C. On the east side, toward Salinas, it reads 42 over 25. There the shelf starts at 2,500 feet MSL. Before you enter, establish two-way radio communication with approach control. Keep it while you are inside.

If the controller answers with your call sign, you have two-way communication. If you hear "aircraft calling, standby," you do not. Stay out. You also need a transponder with altitude reporting and ADS-B Out, inside Class C and above it up to 10,000 feet MSL. Within 4 nautical miles of Monterey, at or below 2,500 feet AGL, the speed limit is 200 knots indicated.

VFR in Class C needs 3 miles visibility. Stay 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above and 2,000 feet horizontally from clouds. In the surface area, VFR needs a ceiling of at least 1,000 feet. To take off, land or enter the pattern, ground visibility must be at least 3 miles. When the Monterey tower closes, its Class C becomes a Class E surface area.

Read the numbers for the area you will fly in. The magenta boxes give the approach frequencies, and the side panel table tells you which one to call.