Narrative:

A safety of flight and potential collision hazard for a very high obstacle that is depicted against the surrounding obstacles exists on the VFR chart 29 miles southeast of far. A GPS direct route from ZZZ to far places an 1;100 foot tower 29 miles southeast of far directly in my flight path. See the attached flight path. Ceilings were reported at 1;600 and 4 mi visibility. I establish an altitude of 2;100 for VFR cloud clearance. I called fargo approach at 32 miles and prior to the TRSA boundary even though I was below the TRSA altitude of 6;000 feet. I received a squawk code from fargo approach and told I had radar contact. Fargo approach then asked me if I had the tower in sight directly in front of me. I turned left to avoid the tower and told fargo approach that I did not see the tower nor did I recognize the obstruction on the VFR chart since it blended into the other obstacles on my VFR chart. Fargo approach did a fabulous job of alerting me to the obstacle. It turned out that an IFR clearance and approach would have been a better option. I highly recommend making sure the greatest obstacle threat be made to stand out against the lower obstacle threat for the antenna tower at 2;556 feet. The flashing tower light symbol on the VFR chart is not apparent. The obstacle height is not apparent. The last digit of the altitude for the tower also blends into the TRSA boundary ring. This combination of VFR chart dependence and GPS direct flight path and lack of familiarity with the local obstacles created a hazardous situation that was compounded by low visibility and low altitude VFR flight conditions. An accident chain was set up; but averted by the fargo approach controller.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA pilot reported ATC issued an alert regarding a tower located near the pilot's flight path on route to FAR airport. The pilot believes the obstacle should be highlighted for better clarity on the VFR chart.

Narrative: A safety of flight and potential collision hazard for a very high obstacle that is depicted against the surrounding obstacles exists on the VFR chart 29 miles SE of FAR. A GPS Direct route from ZZZ to FAR places an 1;100 foot tower 29 miles SE of FAR directly in my flight path. See the attached flight path. Ceilings were reported at 1;600 and 4 MI visibility. I establish an altitude of 2;100 for VFR cloud clearance. I called Fargo approach at 32 miles and prior to the TRSA boundary even though I was below the TRSA altitude of 6;000 feet. I received a squawk code from Fargo Approach and told I had radar contact. Fargo Approach then asked me if I had the tower in sight directly in front of me. I turned left to avoid the tower and told Fargo Approach that I did not see the tower nor did I recognize the obstruction on the VFR chart since it blended into the other obstacles on my VFR chart. Fargo Approach did a fabulous job of alerting me to the obstacle. It turned out that an IFR clearance and approach would have been a better option. I highly recommend making sure the greatest obstacle threat be made to stand out against the lower obstacle threat for the antenna tower at 2;556 feet. The flashing tower light symbol on the VFR chart is not apparent. The obstacle height is not apparent. The last digit of the altitude for the tower also blends into the TRSA boundary ring. This combination of VFR chart dependence and GPS direct flight path and lack of familiarity with the local obstacles created a hazardous situation that was compounded by low visibility and low altitude VFR flight conditions. An accident chain was set up; but averted by the Fargo Approach controller.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.