Runway Linework Generator — Tool Guide

Live AC 150/5300-13B CHG 1 · 14 CFR PART 77 · ALL GUIDES

The Runway Linework Generator produces CAD-ready linework for the full runway environment — runway pavement and centerline, safety areas (RSA, ROFA), protection zones (approach and departure RPZ), obstacle free zones, and the 14 CFR Part 77 imaginary surfaces — as layered DXF or georeferenced KMZ, computed from your design inputs in State Plane coordinates. Dimensions come from AvPlot's standards engine serving AC 150/5300-13B, so every surface in the output carries a defensible basis rather than values keyed into a drafting template.

This is AvPlot's flagship tool: a full multi-step workspace, not a single-form lookup. It replaces the workflow of pulling design-standards rows from the AC, computing surface geometry end by end, and drafting each polygon in CAD by hand. Sign-in is required — the workspace is gated behind your AvPlot account, and projects save to it.

Open the Runway Linework Generator →

Who It's For & When to Use It

Airport planners producing ALP sheets, design reports, and planning studies that need accurate runway-environment linework in CAD or GIS. Use it when starting a new ALP or ALP update, when testing how a change in critical aircraft or approach minimums moves the safety areas and imaginary surfaces, or when you need Part 77 surfaces over an existing runway configuration without rebuilding them from the regulation. It handles multi-runway airports (up to 12 runways per project) with per-end approach types, visibility minimums, displaced thresholds, and declared distances.

How to Use It

The workspace runs as a four-step flow — Project Setup, Runway Data, Runway Ends, Generate — with a stepper across the top. Later steps unlock as earlier ones are completed, and a validation pass runs before the Generate step.

  1. Step 1 — Project Setup. Name the project (the name becomes the DXF/KMZ filename) and look up the airport by ICAO/FAA identifier. The lookup pulls airport, runway, and runway-end data from FAA NASR — each imported value is badged with its source and cycle date — and pre-populates the later steps. You can skip the lookup and enter everything manually. To continue earlier work, use Open project or Copy from previous in the resume strip.
  2. Step 2 — Runway Data. Set the number of runways, then complete one accordion per runway: designation, width, and the critical design aircraft. The aircraft typeahead searches the FAA Aircraft Characteristics Database (388 aircraft) and auto-derives AAC, ADG, TDG, and the Runway Design Code; a custom aircraft can instead be classified from wingspan, tail height, wheelbase, and main-gear width via the classification API.
  3. Step 3 — Runway Ends. For each runway end, enter threshold coordinates — the Smart Coord field accepts pasted lat/lon or State Plane northing/easting and auto-detects the State Plane zone — plus threshold elevation, approach type, visibility minimums, ILS/ALS status, displaced threshold, and declared distances (auto-derived, or switched to manual TORA/TODA/ASDA/LDA entry). A live rules-derivation readout shows how the inputs drive the surface standards.
  4. Step 4 — Generate. Review the location preview map, the output layer list, and the surface toggles. Surfaces are grouped into Runway Safety (RSA, ROFA, RPZ), Part 77 imaginary surfaces (Primary, Approach, Transitional, Horizontal, Conical), and Other (AC 13B approach surfaces, 40:1 instrument departure surface, pavement and centerline, stopway, clearway, and the OFZ family). Note that all five Part 77 surfaces — including Conical — default to checked; uncheck what you don't want in the file. Then Generate DXF or Generate KMZ, and Save project to keep the configuration in your account.

Key Features

  • Project save/load. The full workspace state — all four steps, including surface toggles — saves to your account through the project manager and restores from the Step 1 resume strip. Copy-from-previous clones an existing project as a starting point.
  • Airport lookup from FAA NASR. One identifier pre-populates airport and runway data from the FAA's 28-day NASR cycle, with source and cycle-date provenance carried on each auto-filled field. Manual entry remains available for proposed geometry.
  • Aircraft classification. Critical-aircraft selection from the 388-aircraft FAA ACD with automatic AAC/ADG/TDG/RDC derivation, or custom-aircraft classification from physical dimensions.
  • Layer toggles. Seventeen individually selectable surfaces across the Runway Safety, Part 77, and Other groups, each mapped to its own named, color-coded layer in the output.
  • DXF and KMZ export. Layered DXF for CAD, georeferenced KMZ for Google Earth and GIS review — generated from the same payload, so the two outputs agree.
  • Live location preview. A map preview on the Generate step plots the project from the entered threshold coordinates, switchable between airport-wide and active-runway scope — a quick sanity check that coordinates and zone are right before export.

FAA References

  • AC 150/5300-13B Chg 1, Airport Design — governing standard for runway design surfaces; RSA, ROFA, RPZ, OFZ, and approach/departure surface dimensions per the Runway Design Standards Matrix (Appendix G).
  • 14 CFR Part 77, Safe, Efficient Use, and Preservation of the Navigable Airspace — basis for the imaginary surfaces (primary, approach, transitional, horizontal, conical).
  • FAA NASR (National Airspace System Resources) — source for airport, runway, and runway-end facts in the airport lookup, refreshed on the FAA's 28-day cycle and cited with its cycle date.

Limitations & Disclaimers

AvPlot is technical planning production support — accurate enough for design reports, planning studies, and ALP narratives. It is not a replacement for stamped engineering or construction documents. Verify all generated surfaces and dimensions against current FAA publications before use in official Airport Layout Plans or submittals.

  • Export formats are DXF and KMZ only — there is no SVG or PDF export.
  • Output geometry is computed in the project's State Plane zone from the threshold coordinates you provide; coordinate quality in equals coordinate quality out.
  • The tool draws standard surfaces from the design inputs; it does not perform obstruction analysis or evaluate penetrations of those surfaces.

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Tips & Best Practices

  • Settle the critical design aircraft before starting: look it up in the Aircraft Classification Library first, then select it in Step 2 so the derived AAC/ADG/TDG/RDC drive every downstream surface consistently.
  • Start from the NASR airport lookup even for improvement projects — let it populate existing conditions, then override only the values your alternative changes. The source badges show exactly which fields you touched.
  • Save the project before generating. Generation reads the live workspace, but a saved project is your record of the exact configuration behind the exported file — and your starting point for the next alternative.
  • Audit the surface toggles on the Generate step before every export. The defaults enable most surfaces — including all five Part 77 surfaces, with Conical checked — which is more than many ALP sheets need. Uncheck deliberately rather than deleting layers in CAD afterward.
  • Use the location preview map as a coordinate check: if the thresholds plot somewhere other than the airport, fix the State Plane zone or the northing/easting entry in Step 3 before generating, not after opening the DXF.

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