A line crosses your practice route, and the label refers to military activity. It is tempting to treat every such area the same way. Start by reading the actual designation. A restricted area and a military operations area, or MOA, call for different questions before you decide how to route around or through them.
Use this exercise to build a planning note you can discuss with your instructor. The names, altitudes and route choices below are invented, and no example establishes the current status of a real area.
Restricted areas: establish the applicable restriction
14 CFR § 91.133 prohibits operating within a restricted area contrary to its restrictions unless you have the appropriate using or controlling agency's permission. The FAA AIM special use airspace section describes hazards such as artillery and aerial gunnery, which may not be visible from the cockpit.
Treat the area label as the start of the investigation. Identify its vertical limits, applicable times and the agency to contact. Do not infer permission from an empty-looking sky or from the fact that your route is VFR.
In your notes, leave an unresolved item clearly marked until you have the information needed to answer it. “Probably inactive” is not a useful replacement for a status check and an understanding of the applicable restriction.
MOAs: investigate activity and traffic risk
An MOA is nonregulatory special use airspace; its designation alone does not prohibit VFR transit. That distinction does not establish that a transit is a good choice. The AIM advises extreme caution during military activity and contacting the controlling agency for traffic advisories before entering an active MOA.
The AIM also explains how to obtain status information and notes that activity can change. Record when information was obtained and what would prompt another check. A published schedule and the current activity status answer related but different questions.
Discuss the decision with your instructor in terms of workload, available information and alternatives. Avoid reducing it to a memory rule that every MOA must be crossed or every MOA must be avoided.
Compare two hypothetical routes
Imagine a practice MOA with a published floor of 5,000 feet MSL. Your proposed route crosses its lateral outline at 4,500 feet MSL. Under those invented limits, the aircraft is below the MOA volume. Draw that relationship from the side before concluding that a line crossing on the map means entry.
Now raise the proposed altitude to 5,500 feet MSL. The route would pass through the hypothetical volume. Write down the status and traffic information you would seek, then sketch an alternative route around it. Compare distance, terrain, weather and workload rather than judging solely by which line is shorter.
Repeat with a hypothetical restricted area. Keep the geometry the same, but replace the MOA discussion with the restriction and permission questions. Explain aloud why changing the designation changes the planning task.
Try it in AirspaceLab
Use the airspace probe to practice comparing aircraft altitude with a displayed volume's floor and ceiling. Then apply that same drawing method to special use airspace on a current sectional. The sectional chart guide can help you organize the chart-reading steps.
Finish your notebook entry with the area designation, vertical limits, status information needed and an alternative route. Bring the entry to your instructor. Use current charts, NOTAMs and the appropriate agency for real planning; a rendered shape supplies geometry, not live activity status.
Sources checked: November 14, 2026. All route examples are hypothetical VFR study exercises, and the simulator does not authorize entry into special use airspace.