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I read the information below in the aeronautical chart user's guide. I have several questions.

  1. On the third line - Why is there an ICAO identifier for a U.S. & Alaska low altitude chart? I thought ICAO was for international flying?

  2. On the fourth line it says '0' and '*' but there is no explanation. What do these two symbols mean?

  3. On the fifth line it says there is a part time frequency, I assume because the tower is part time based on line three. So if this is the case, why does it need to say part time twice?

enter image description here

CITY - City

Airport Name - Airport Name

(APT) (ICAO) [D]* - Airport Identifier, ICAO Location Identifier, Class D airspace with far 93 special requirements operating part time

280 0* 43s - Airport elevation, unknown symbol, runway length (soft field)

(A) *109.8 - ATIS, Part Time Frequency

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  • $\begingroup$ FAA charts are international charts to a Canadian pilot... 0* (actually more like (L)* ) is in the legend, it means pilot controlled lighting - part time or on request. $\endgroup$
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 4, 2016 at 14:22

3 Answers 3

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enter image description here

① - ICAO ID

As indicated, will be used for OCONUS airports only (overseas), e.g. Guam has a 4-letter ICAO designator:

enter image description here

② - Symbol with circle: Lighting

An "L" following the elevation under the airport name means that runway lights are on during hours of darkness. A circle around the "L" indicates there is Pilot Controlled Lighting. A star beside the "L" means the lighting is less than continuous.

(Source)

This is part of the legend, but there is no lead line.

③ - ATIS available part-time

This is not the tower frequency (as your question seems to assume), but the ATIS frequency.

This information is not redundant, the ATIS may be available full time for an airfield open part-time. This is the case for Grand Junction Regional in the snapshot above.

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  • $\begingroup$ Hi thank you. I wasn't asking about the L symbol within the circle, I was asking about the 0* $\endgroup$
    – jskypilot
    Mar 4, 2016 at 14:25
  • $\begingroup$ Ok nevermind, I do see there is a very faded L within the circle. That is why I was confused. Very difficult to see. $\endgroup$
    – jskypilot
    Mar 4, 2016 at 14:25
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ICAO identifier is given for airports outside contiguous US. From FAA National Airspace System:

Airport Information

Airport information is provided in the legend, and the symbols used for the airport name, elevation, and runway length are similar to the sectional chart presentation. ... FAA identifiers are shown for all airports. ICAO identifiers are also shown for airports outside of the contiguous United States.

The symbol in the fourth line is not a zero, but rather the letter 'L' with a circle over it. It represents the avialbility of pilot controlled lighting, and should be clear from the following image from this document

Image detail

The explanation for '*' is given just for completeness there is an unidentified one in the fourth line.

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  • $\begingroup$ "ICAO identifier is given for airports outside contiguous US". On the screenshot I posted it says "U.S. and Alaska low altitude chart". So why would it need an ICAO if it depicts airports within the U.S.? $\endgroup$
    – jskypilot
    Mar 4, 2016 at 14:46
  • $\begingroup$ @jskypilot contiguous US doesn't include Alaska. As the chart depicts US and Alaska, ICAO identifier is given. $\endgroup$
    – aeroalias
    Mar 4, 2016 at 15:24
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In the continental US, an airport with an ICAO identifier is generally the same as the 3-letter FAA identifier, with the letter "K" in front. (Note, not all airports with an FAA identifier have an ICAO identifier, and the FAA 3-letter identifier won't always match the IATA 3-letter identifier... almost always but not quite. Branson MO and Sawyer MI have IATA/FAA mismatches.) Elsewhere, such as Alaska, the FAA identifier for the airport may or may not match so closely. Anchorage International is ANC (FAA) and PANC (ICAO), but Elmendorf AFB is EDF for the FAA, but PAED for ICAO. So in Alaska and Hawaii, it's very helpful to list both the 3-letter FAA identifier and the 4-letter ICAO identifier as they may or may not be similar.

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