The area covered by an aerial photograph (air photo) depends on the scale of the imagery. Most air photos were taken on 9 x 9 inch film. The chart below reflects coverage for a variety of photographic scales.
| Scale | 1 inch = feet | 1 side (miles) | Area (square miles) |
| 1:12,000 | 1000 | 1.70 | 2.9 |
| 1:20,000 | 1667 | 2.84 | 8.1 |
| 1:24,000 | 2000 | 3.41 | 11.6 |
| 1:40,000 | 3333 | 5.68 | 32.3 |
| 1:58,000 | 4833 | 8.23 | 67.73 |
| 1:63,360 | 5280 | 9.00 | 81.00 |
| 1:80,000 | 6667 | 11.36 | 129.1 |
| 1:100,000 | 8333 | 14.20 | 201.6 |
Note: The photo scale is determined by dividing the flying height by the camera focal length.
Example: If the flying height is 20,000 feet and the camera focal length is 6 inches, then:
20,000 feet ÷ 0.5 feet = 40,000 scale or 1:40,000
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