IFR chart dilemma

[tmmorris]

I'm in a quandary about which set of IFR charts to buy and any views are welcome...

I have a PPL/IMCR and regard instrument flying as something I do regularly. Every other flight I do an ILS back into home base (Benson).

For a while, I used the RAF No 1 AIDU FLIP chart booklets. These are AERAD but include a number of IAPs for military airfields not available in the civilian AERAD at the time. Then the RAF discontinued the book I was using.

I switched to Jeppesen but I don't like the chart format. I prefer the old AERAD one.

Then the RAF charts became available again and I switched back; but the price was more than I was expecting with P&P and in fact AERAD would be cheaper.

BUT - I don't much like the new AERAD format and they don't include cat A.

Options:

1. Don't buy anything. Use the AIP charts. Not a runner as the AIP doesn't include military airfields so I'd have no charts for my home base!

2. Jeppesen. Includes enough military airfields (including Benson). Around £160-200 per year for the UK & Ireland option (enough for me as the IMCR isn't valid in France &c anyway). But I don't like the charts. [As I still have the folders, can I save money by buying a paper-only set? No-one seems to sell them like that.]

3. AERAD. Similar price, similar coverage. But no cat A. Do I just use the cat B minima/procedures? Are any cat A procedures (e.g. outbound headings, timings) actually different from cat B (most charts seem to sat 'Cat AB' for the alternative procedure)? I don't fly down to chart minima only as I don't regard myself as in sufficient practice to go below the 500/600ft advisory minima.

4. Jeppview. Too expensive for the amount of flying I do. (Yes, A and C, I know you will recommend that one :-) )

5. GCAP. Too basic, in my view, unless they have improved a lot since I last looked at them (a year or so ago).

Any other ideas I haven't thought of? Any views on the cat A issue? I think I could live with the new AERAD format otherwise, and that's the way I'm tending at the moment...

Tim

[bookworm]

Subscribe to AERAD (or AIDU if they do airfield-by-airfield) for only the military airfields you need. Use the AIP for the others.

[tmmorris]

Hmm. AIDU looks expensive like that - I'd need:

Benson - £8.25
Lyneham - £8.25
Brize - £18.11

every 2 months, i.e. £207.66 per year, just to maintain home and common diversion airfields. Makes the AERAD set actually cheaper! (I think AIDU pricing was actually re-set a couple of years ago to make sure it cost more that AERAD, as RAF internal customers get them free.)

EDITED to add - maybe I've misunderstood the AIDU website. Terminal booklets are £80.40 per year, 2 booklets covering the UK. Perhaps those figures are per year - in which case I could maintain those three for £34.61 per year. I'd better ring them and ask.

How can I do AERAD by individual airfields? I can't find that online anywhere.

Tim

[kui2324]

Aerad did change last year and for a while Cat A wasn't available but they listened to what their users said (well partly) and have started producing Cat A again.

You need to request it from them when (if) you subscribe.

kui

[Sciolistes]

I preferred the Aerads until an instructor demonstrated how to use the Jepp charts properly (i.e. the briefing strips). Now it seems to me that the Aerads seemed to encourage cherry picking whereas the Jepps guide you through the essential details. Perhaps that has changed since I last used Aerad a couple of years ago.

[bookworm]

every 2 months,

I've never used the AIDU products -- why would you buy new charts every two months when they probably change quite infrequently?

Aerad certainly used to do subscriptions to individual airfields for about £10 per year. They just sent you the plates when they change. Aerad's customer service is very helpful -- give them a call: +44 1932 704200.

[tmmorris]

Sciolistes,

That's what A and C likes, too, hence I know he will be along soon to tell me so as he did when we flew together last year! I think I just prefer the AERAD format because I learned from it.

I'll ring AERAD - thanks bookworm for the number.

As for AIDU perhaps I'm wrong. In the past I've bought their booklets which were reissued every 2 months (spiral bound so you couldn't change individual pages). Perhaps the cost will be only charged when the plates are updated: if so, it would work. I'll ring them tomorrow, too, to check.

I must confess I like the security of keeping a full set of plates in case of diversions. Perhaps that's unrealistic of me: the only occasion when I've had to delve into the bag for a plate - an unplanned diversion into Gloucester due to unforseen weather meaning we couldn't reach Shobdon - if I'd planned the flight properly and printed off a set of plates for Gloucester in case of that eventuality I'd have been OK anyway. And richer!

Tim