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Strange Class G airspace

Asked by: 2176 views Airspace

There's a strange strip of Class G airspace just East of the Grand Canyon and I have wondered what is the purpose. It doesn't seem associated with any VFR flyways, there's a gap near L41 Marble Canyon that would indicate the 32nm long top "spar" is there to serve uncontrolled VFR traffic to that airport, but the bottom "spar" seems to start randomly, head randomly for 13nm (153°M/333°M) (to Cedar Ridge) then turns West to point off in another random direction (012°M/192°M) for 19nm.
The "spar" nature suggests a narrow VFR airway, but I don't see a reason for one to exist; and the diverging widths (.25-1.1nm) suggests that it's built from VOR radials, but there's nothing at their convergence (the 153°M/333°M spar is sort of aligned with the DTA VOR to the North, if that VOR were 11nm further South, and the 012°M/192°M spar is sort of alligned with DRK VOR, if that VOR were 5nm further East, and with INW VOR, if that VOR were 13nm West).
Just a WAG here... a training airway for Embry-Riddle Prescott?

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2 Answers



  1. Russ Roslewski on Nov 07, 2018

    You’re overthinking it. 🙂

    The short reason that these two areas are still Class G to 14,500 is simply that they haven’t been designated anything else yet.

    Think of the U.S. as being entirely Class G airspace. Then an airport is built, and airspace is designated for it (Class B, C, D, E). This is “cut out” from the existing Class G airspace. Then another airport is built and airspace designated. Then some airways. Pretty soon what started as all Class G is now only partially Class G with a lot of cutouts. Keep going, and eventually the 14,500 Class G airspace is a minority, and only exists in places where it hasn’t yet been swallowed up by other airspace.

    So the reason these two Class G areas exist is NOT because they were created like that, but that the other, surrounding airspace was established and that’s what was left over. They serve no useful purpose and are too narrow to do anything in anyway.

    If you look at a sectional chart from just a few years ago (maybe 5), you will see a lot more of this 14,500 Class G airspace all around the mountain west. There used to be a pretty easily followed line of it starting in North Dakota and meandering down to New Mexico.

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  2. John D Collins on Nov 08, 2018

    I think this is an oversight. The triangle formed by GCN V293 PGA V208 TBC V210 GCN used to enclose an area of high G airspace outside of the airways. The sliver is right on the edge of the LA Center and Denver Center boundary and it appears as if all this old high G airspace was deleted in the Denver center airspace, but a small portion in the LA center airspace did not align with the boundary. My guess is when the high G airspace got eliminated they got the boundaries wrong in the LA center airspace and did not proper align the elimination boundaries. You can report it to the FAA. Because airspace designation changes require regulation, it may take quite some time for it to be corrected if the existing airspace regulation is wrong.

    It could also be a charting error, which is easier to fix. It is a charting error, the Marble Canyon inset does not show the sliver. I will report it to the FAA.

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