Special Use Airspace

Prohibited Areas (P-###)

Places like Camp David and the White House.

Restricted Areas (R-###)

It’s not prohibited, but if you fly here, it could be dangerous. The government might be testing artillery or missiles or UFOs.

Warning Areas (W-###)

Domestic and international waters, from NM outward from the US coast. It’s cool to fly there—it’s just not really managed by the US.

Military Operations Areas (MOAs)

MOAs consist of airspace with defined limits established for the purpose of separating certain military training activities from IFR traffic. Whenever an MOA is being used, nonparticipating IFR traffic may be cleared through an MOA if IFR separation can be provided by ATC. Otherwise, ATC reroutes or restricts nonparticipating IFR traffic. Will often consist of multiple Restricted Areas (R-###). An example of this is Chocolate Mountain Impact Area (R-2507) and Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (R-2507), which we drove through in California.

Alert Areas

Depicted on aeronautical charts with an “A” followed by a number (e.g., A-211) to inform nonparticipating pilots of areas that may contain a high volume of pilot training or an unusual type of aerial activity. Think skydiving training facility.