Lesson E3 1:03 22 of 26
Power lines, aerial cables and tall towers, and how much room to give them.
The video plays from YouTube. FAA San Francisco Sectional, effective 29 OCT 2026. Not for navigation.
Power lines can be very hard to see from the air. The sectional draws a power transmission line as a thin black line with small tower symbols. Near Moss Landing, several lines run inland from the stacks.
The symbol gives no height for the wires or their towers. Many power lines are not marked or lighted. Watch for them when you follow rivers, canyons, highways and railroads, and on approach and landing. The chart also shows aerial cables, as a dashed black line with small squares.
Tall towers appear as blue obstacle symbols. This group northeast of Salinas tops out at 3,482 feet MSL. Many towers are held up by guy wires. Guy wires can reach about 1,500 feet out from a tower. Stay at least 2,000 feet away from towers horizontally. Use extra caution below 2,000 feet AGL.
New towers may not be on your current chart.
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.
