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I would like a map depicting the airspace owned by Fayetteville TRACON that includes lat/long coordinates (i.e. not just a cartoon-y outline with no information). Ideally, I'd like to find a site whereby I can look up the airspace map for any ATC facility, but, for the moment, I'd like Fayetteville.

Any thoughts?

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  • $\begingroup$ And I'm guessing you would like to know MVAs and frequencies. I'd love to be able to find the same thing. It seems like it would be very valuable for SA, instead of slowly compiling mental maps from experience. $\endgroup$
    – J W
    Commented Oct 27, 2020 at 2:26

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I will second @StephenS's image as the best you're likely to find with minimal effort. In fact there are a few of these images available if you do an image search for "FAA STARS TAMR" and I've included all of them at the bottom of this answer.

Real answer

If you need the specific boundaries you can submit a FOIA request. If you're a private citizen who wants the information for non-commercial use this should be free, but it may not be. Here is the FOIA form for the Air Traffic Organization FOIA Coordinator for the Eastern Service Area, which should be who you want. I would probably say you're requesting "A document showing the boundaries and coordinates of Fayetteville ATCT center-delegated airspace" and that you think it would be found in the FAY SOP and/or in the LOA FAY has with Washington ARTCC.

Alternatively, if you have a controller friend who's willing to do you a favor you could ask them to pull up the SOP/LOA for FAY from the FAA intranet next time they're at work. All facilities should have their SOPs and LOAs stored on a system that can be accessed at loa.faa.gov from behind the general firewall. This is probably against policy though, so they might not be willing to do it for you.

Unofficial but likely workable answer

The VATSIM community strives for realism, and from time-to-time submits FOIA requests to the FAA to form the basis for their SOPs and maps. The Virtual Washington ARTCC website includes a page of downloadable "facility files" that you can open in a virtual radar client in order to see the airspace boundary (by enabling the "VIDMAP" map). I have no reason to doubt this map's accuracy, as it looks quite detailed and appears to match the boundaries shown in the maps below, but there is no guarantee it is accurate or current.

To find the geographical coordinate of any given point on the map, you can type F7,D,* and then click on the point. This shows the coordinate in what appears to be a hybrid Degrees Minutes.TenthsHundredths format. These coordinates must be defined somewhere in the downloaded "facility file" but I do not see a way to extract them on their own; you could get in touch with the VATSIM community to ask for the originals.

This method would probably work for any facility in the country, and although there is no guarantee of accuracy, airspace boundaries do not change often at all. It may be more time-effective to ask the various VATSIM communities for access to their FOIAed documents than to duplicate their effort by asking the FAA for each individual facility.

Interesting graphical history

An older map, still shows ARTS facilities. No date. FMH and ACK still separate. NMM is an FAA facility. JST not shown. Original Older version, still shows ARTS

Map from September 2013. FMH and ACK still separate. NMM is an FAA facility. JST not shown. Original, 1620x1080. This is the highest-quality map of the bunch. September 2013

Map from September 2014. Very poor quality, hard to tell the differences from 2013. FMH and ACK still separate. NMM is an FAA facility. JST not shown. Original September 2014

StephenS's undated map. FMH and ACK have merged to create K90. NMM is an FAA facility. JST not shown. Map from between 2014 and 2018

Map from July 2018. This version shows ARTCC boundaries as well! K90 has been absorbed by A90. NMM is now run by the DOD. JST is a wholly new approach facility running airspace delegated by ZOB, located between PIT and MDT. The facility covering Edwards AFB and the R-2508 complex is now designated E10, "High Desert TRACON," instead of EDW. Also shown are the then-in-progress airspace consolidations (Section 804 or otherwise): MFR to EUG, YKM to PSC, MSO to GEG, RNO to SCT, BZM to BOI, GJT and PUB to D01, SJT to MAF, FYV to FSM, COU to SGF, LYH to ROA. Original July 2018

Map from June 2019. STARS is almost ubiquitous, with only two ARTS 2E and four ARTS 1E facilities left that I can see. Transfers of YKM to PSC, COU to SGF, and LYH to ROA are complete (as are the others from 2018, I think, but the arrows are still drawn because the airspace is not contiguous). MKG, MBS, LAN, and FNT have been combined into a super-TRACON at AZO now known as "Great Lakes Approach." Original June 2019

As of 2021, I believe there are no remaining ARTS facilities; all facilities are using some flavor of STARS. E10 is now JCF, "Joshua CCF." MFD and CAK have both been consolidated to CLE. PSC is being consolidated to GEG, taking YKM airspace with it. PIA and SPI are being consolidated to T75. HUF is being consolidated to IND. ZSU's Center functions are going to ZMA and the approach is being consolidated to RSW. FLO and MYR are being consolidated to CHS. There are probably some more I'm not remembering.

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  • $\begingroup$ Great improvement on my answer! $\endgroup$
    – StephenS
    Commented Feb 3, 2021 at 20:50
  • $\begingroup$ To be honest, I didn't see that the highest voted answer was yours, but yours is also a non-answer as it misses coordinates that the OP asked for. Good encyclopaedic knowledge but not an answer. $\endgroup$
    – Stelios Adamantidis
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 16:19
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    $\begingroup$ A very good point @Stelios. Thinking on the question more, I came up with a possibly workable solution that will allow OP to extract coordinates that are—probably—broadly correct. It should be good enough for unofficial use (e.g. a quick "who should I call" when airborne, but not "who is responsible for the land over my house right on the boundary"). $\endgroup$
    – randomhead
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 17:05
  • $\begingroup$ @randomhead chat? $\endgroup$
    – Stelios Adamantidis
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 17:20
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The closest thing I could find was MVA and MIA Charts from FAA web site. The data format is in AIXM (XML) but I am not sure if this will cover you as I haven't tried reading any of the AIXM files. By looking into the PDF that provides the "cartoon-y" preview, it seems that the data are only that: MVA and MIA. If you need anything more than that, then I guess you will need to fuse data from other sources as well.

For example, this is what the Fayetteville PDF that you were asking for looks like:

FAY MVA

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  • $\begingroup$ The MVA map for a facility will generally go out to 60 NM (or more, as needed) regardless of the actual configuration of the airspace. Nothing shown on this map has any relation to boundaries of the airspace controlled by Fayetteville Approach. $\endgroup$
    – randomhead
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 15:31
  • $\begingroup$ @randomhead And you think that this is a reason for downvoting? Anyway I guess I should say "thank you" as usually people downvote without comment. I said the closest I could find. If you have any better source than that then please by all means add an answer. $\endgroup$
    – Stelios Adamantidis
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 15:35
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, sorry. There is no relation between this MVA map and OP's question (though JWalters may appreciate the information). I do not know of a better source besides the nationwide maps posted in my answer, unfortunately. $\endgroup$
    – randomhead
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 16:13
  • $\begingroup$ That's fine, have it your way. :) $\endgroup$
    – Stelios Adamantidis
    Commented May 6, 2021 at 16:18
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I’ve been looking for years myself, and this is the best facility map I’ve been able to find so far, shared in a private forum by some ATC folks:

TRACON map

I know this is exactly the kind of “cartoon-y” outline that you don’t want, and I expect to be downvoted for it, but maybe others will better understand what you are looking for: a map of airspace ownership rather than the typical maps of airspace class.

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Skyvector to the rescue!

You will find APP/DEP procedures, maps, frequencies, the whole nine yards!

EDIT:

Because it was stated in the comments, that SkyVector information is incomplete:

  • the charts show Fayetteville TMA and all instructions

  • The boundaries will depend on VFR, IFR and altitude, so you need to look at the charts

  • With the appropriate software to read it, you can download the AIXM files from the FAA, they hold the exact coordinates

  • the chart tells you, you are in Washington ARTCC

  • It will also tell you to contact FAY when you are 20NM out

  • the general information tells you the frequencies for APP/DEP

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    $\begingroup$ Skyvector has all the information for Fayetteville airport itself, but it doesn't show the airspace controlled by Fayetteville TRACON $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 13:41
  • $\begingroup$ Edited the answer to explain, what can be found in the chart; also explained where to find exact coordinates $\endgroup$
    – mike
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 21:06

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