What Kind Of Charts Do You Use ?
As all good pilots, you fly with up-to-date version of all charts you can possibly need. But do you use paper, self-printed, or fully electronic charts ?
Personally, I print my charts from a JeppView before the flight, be it VFR or IFR. I chose this solution because I got bored with updating manuals, but can’t afford a panel-mount nor portable display. What are the pros and cons of the various options ? Have a look…
All Paper – Old Fashion
We probably all started this way. A binder full of charts, and one or two revisions each month. Remove the old charts, slip the new ones in, and so on. I made it for years for my swiss VFR coverage. Then I upgraded to France, Switzerland and Belgium IFR… This meant a lot more updates, but also flying with Jeppesen extra-thin paper.
The charts of my homebase and places I go frequently got rapidly damaged. To save time, and have charts in good state, I took a step towards modern charting…
Home-printing
Printing charts at home using JeppView makes the update work an old story. Simply download the updates, or load them from the CD. Charts handling is also easier, as standard paper is more resistant… and it is anyway possible to print as many charts as needed ! It is also possible to write directly on the charts, making cockpit management easier.
On the negative side, a good printer is a must. As there is no manual update, each chart is printed with a limit date. Even if no change occurs, all charts are time limited ! The main disadvantage is the management of diversions. Shall you print charts for your planned alternate only, or also for all airports in the vicinity ? And what about the emergency chapter of the manual ? Shall you print it once, or re-print it after each update ?
Not being able to access any chart but only those you printed before the flight requires a good strategy. Mine is to be generous when priting, even if I throw 95% of what I print later on without using it. Not the good way to save the rain forest…
Full Electronic
I never had the chance to fly a plane equipped with electronic charts display… until now. This would be the ultimate step in the modernisation of charting. Simply get the SID, STAR or approach displayed on the secondary screen of the glass cockpit.
This however reaches a question regarding complete electrical failure. If you loose all electrical power, not only the glass cockpit, GPS, radios and lighting will go off, but the chart will be gone as well. The best way then is to use yor hand-held radio to call the last frequency you worked with. Hopefully you will remember it, because you will not be able to look at the electronic chart ! If you don’t remember it, the last option is 121.5 !
What about you ?
Which kind of charts do you use ? If you print, do you print a lot, or just what you need ? Are you lucky enough to have a digital display on-board ? If yes, what is your backup ?
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Jason
In the Cirrus I typically just use the electronic charts, unless I’m going into complex airspace – then a terminal chart or sectional are helpful for knowing the airspace heights (sometimes that is hard to find on the screens). If IFR then that doesn’t matter to me as much. Having paper backup is always a good idea though.
In older planes I always have a sectional and NACO plates on board. But that’s because that’s the only real option.
Jan 31st, 2008
pat
What kind of charts are you talink about?
I guess it’s VAC/IAC?
I print VAC for the airfields plus alternates from the SIA.
I fly with a paper 1/500 000 VFR chart and a 1/1 000 000 but I scarcely need it since I don’t fly very far from my home base.
Most often I have my PocketFMS as a backup. It’s got a moving map with airspaces and frequencies.
Sometimes there’s also a built-in moving map GPS in the aircraft.
Jan 31st, 2008
PlasticPilot
@Pat: yes, mean VAC / IAC. It is true that flying in France you have the luck to have all charts for free on the excellent SIA website (http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr), thanks for reminding me this detail.
I used them sometimes for VFR, before I got the electronic coverage. For IFR, I always use standard Jeppesen plates, to avoid any risk of misinterpretation or not finding an information at critical time during an approach.
Jan 31st, 2008
Matthew Stibbe
I use Jeppview to print out charts for my destination and alternates. I also keep a little A5 book of other diversion airfields in SE England. I use the MFD in the Cirrus for en-route diversions and I display the plates for my destination as I approach. It’s very useful as a cross-check on the instruments and for situational awareness. I recently bought a cheap OQO ultra-mobile PC and I have Jeppview on that. I’m interested to see whether I can use it to plan flights when I’m away from home and also to file/amend flightplans.
Feb 1st, 2008
PlasticPilot
@Matthew: glad to see you back here. And luck you to have a glass Cirrus and the ultra-mobile PC. How “cheap” was it ?
Feb 1st, 2008
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