Roadmap of Federal Aviation Regulations
14 CFR - Aeronautics and Space
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) is the body of law that governs the aeronautics and space components of the Department of Transportation (the FAA and NASA). The bulk of the laws governing general aviation are included in Chapter I (Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation), some key parts of Chapter I include:
Aircraft:
Part 23 - Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Airplanes
Part 43 - Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration
Airmen:
Part 61 - Certification: Pilots, Flight Instructors, and Ground Instructors
Part 68 - BasicMed (Requirements for Operating Certain Small Aircraft Without a Medical Certificate)
Airspace:
Air Traffic and General Operating Rules
49 CFR - Transportation
Title 49 of the CFR serves more or less as the catch-all for other Department of Transportation components - important for aviation is Chapter VIII which covers the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is the federal body that investigates and reports on transportation incidents in the United States (and often, around the world). As a pilot, 49 CFR Part 830 is of particular interest because it lays out the requirements for notifying the NTSB of an incident and how to correctly preserve wreckage and paperwork in the event of an incident.