Free on RF Workbench
FAA notice check
Check a proposed structure against nearby airports and heliports to see whether FAA notice is needed.
Prefer to enter everything by hand? Use the fields below.
Planning a new or relocated tower?
FAA notice is only one part. RF Navigator includes this check in every AM, FM, LPFM, translator and TV study it runs, alongside contour, spacing and interference analysis, and Nexus Broadcast can take on the engineering and filings for you.
What this check covers
- 200 ft rule: any structure whose height above ground at its site exceeds 200 feet (60.96 m) must give FAA notice (14 CFR 77.9(a); 47 CFR 17.7(a)). Count the full height, including the building, the tower and anything mounted on top.
- Slope rule: imaginary surfaces climb from the closest point of the closest runway. Around an airport with a longest runway over 3,200 feet the slope is 100:1 out to 20,000 feet; around smaller airports it is 50:1 out to 10,000 feet; around a heliport it is 25:1 out to 5,000 feet (17.7(b)). Because the surface begins at the airport's elevation, heights are compared above sea level.
- Airport and heliport locations are the FCC's own set for this rule (its "Airport Facilities - 47 CFR Part 17" data files). Private airports that have an instrument approach approved by the FAA count as well (17.7(d)(4)), but the list does not identify them, so ask the FAA if one is close by.
- Not covered: shielding from nearby terrain or structures (17.7(e)(1)), or a study the FAA requests in an area covered by an instrument approach (17.7(c)).
- Any structure requiring FAA notice must also be registered with the FCC as an antenna structure (17.4(a)).
Before you file, confirm the result in the official FAA Notice Criteria Tool and FCC TOWAIR.
A screening check meant for planning. Neither the FCC nor the FAA made it.