SIDs and departure procedures

Pilot-nav and vector SIDs, ODPs, and climb gradients, read off real Boston and Reno departures.

18 min read · Charts and procedures

After this lesson you can

  • Distinguish an ODP from a SID by what each one is designed to do.
  • Read a vector SID and a pilot-nav RNAV SID and explain what each asks of the pilot.
  • Convert a published climb gradient in feet per nautical mile into a target rate of climb in feet per minute.
  • Read a real takeoff minimums and obstacle departure procedure page and identify which runway requires a nonstandard climb.

Every IFR departure has to solve the same problem: get from the runway to the en route structure while staying clear of terrain, towers, and other airplanes, all before the pilot can see any of it. Two different kinds of published departure procedure solve that problem, for two different reasons, and mixing them up is a common beginner mistake.

This lesson reads four real departure procedures: two SIDs out of Boston Logan, an obstacle departure procedure out of Reno, and the takeoff minimums page that lists Boston's nonstandard climb requirements runway by runway.

The rest of this lesson

  1. 1.Two different jobs: ODP and SID
  2. 2.A vector SID: LOGAN FOUR out of Boston
  3. 3.A pilot-nav SID: SSOXS SEVEN, and what its restrictions mean
  4. 4.Climb gradients: from feet per mile to feet per minute
  5. 5.Reading a real obstacle departure procedure
  6. 6.The takeoff minimums page: Boston's nonstandard climbs

These 6 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the IFR track. Paid once, yours for good.

See what the IFR track costsEvery module 1 is free to read, no account, no card.

Key terms

Try to recall each definition before turning the card.