calvert@ut-sally.UUCP (Ken Calvert) (02/05/86)
I asked this six months ago, and got two replies, neither
of which gve me the answer I wanted. So I'm trying again.
On my VFR wall planning chart (east), the outlines of the
areas covered by the various sectionals are marked. Within
each sectional area the Maximum Elevation Figure (MEF) from
the sectional is listed, in the sectional-style thousands-hundreds
format. The MEF is defined to be the altitude MSL of the highest
terrain or other feature within the area (possibly with an added margin of
a couple of hundred feet). In other words, if you stay above that
altitude, you should be safe (from hitting any terrestrial obstacles).
The Miami sectional's MEF is shown as 14,2. That's 14,200 feet.
My question is simply: what feature is there in Southern Florida,
a notoriously flat region, that results in such a high MEF?
Am I misinterpreting the chart or missing something obvious?
Is there any indication of this on IFR charts for the area?
Any Floridians or geography experts out there?
Reply to me; if others are interested I will post the answer
and/or the most amusing speculations.
Ken Calvert
University of Texas Computer Science
calvert@sally.UTEXAS.EDU
{seismo,topas,ihnp4}!ut-sally!calvertsteves@tektools.UUCP (steve shellans) (02/10/86)
Although I'm not from that part of the country, I seem to remember that there is some kind of observation balloon permanently tethered to one of the Florida keys. (But 14,000+ feet ???)