Iowa City Sectional Charts

These aeronautical sectional charts, published by the Federal Government to help pilots navigate, clearly show the evolution of the national airspace around Iowa City, from the early light beacons, through the A-N radio range era, up to the current VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) system.  Essentially unchanged since 1968, the airspace is once again changing, as the new GPS satellite navigation systems become more common.

All charts are depicted "North Up".  The files are extremely large, in order to preserve clarity.

1939 - Note the "stars" running East/West, denoting the light beacons marking the airmail route	1945 -- The magenta triangles depict the A/N radio ranges, emanating from Moline and Des Moines.	1948 -- The light beacons are no longer depicted on the chart	1953 - Iowa City's VOR first appears, and Des Moines' A/N radio range disappears	1960 - Cedar Rapids now has a VOR, too.
1964 - The radio range from Moline is now gone.	1968 - A nearly modern chart. Note Muscatine now has a VOR.

Historic Iowa City Sectionals provided courtesy of Steven McNicoll.