Mxsmanic wrote:
I see tons of restricted areas, MOAs, Class B, C, D, E airspace, and
the like on charts, but no clear indication of how to locate the
boundaries of these areas other than by pure guesstimate based on
looking at the chart. On rare occasions I see a radial noted as the
boundary of an area, or a radius, but in many cases there is nothing.
How in the world are you supposed to know when you are inside or
outside one of these areas, if you are not flying miles away from
them?

Yes, GPS units and some other devices may provide real-time display of
one's position with these areas superimposed, but such devices have
not always been available.

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Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

I'm assuming your are talking about cross country flights. Most pilots
get to know their local area really well without a map. If you are
flying vfr you should be identifying visual checkpoints constantly and
if you are on a X/C flight you should be flying your flight plan, even
if you don't file. You need to know where you are and where you are
headed at all times. If it gets too hazy to identify ground references
than you are probably in marginal vfr or worse. If you want to fly
higher than the turkey vultures I suggest you buy a really good gps and
keep the thing updated. Or better yet spend the time and money and get
an ifr rating and go play at altitude with ATC. The thing that
concerns me most when I fly X/C vfr is the TFR's that pop up suddenly,
especially around election time. You can get a briefing and 10 minutes
later the Pres. or VP or some Senator decides to change his destination
to yours, and if you're not talking to somebody to let you know what's
going on.., well good luck. I use to fly more vfr X/C's but not
anymore. Now I just file ifr, go high and enjoy the fuel savings.

FlynCatfish