Jeppessen VFR GPS Charts

[Sierra Hotel]

Does anyone here use the Jeppessen VFR GPS Charts? I was looking at one recently and found they are much clearer than the standard CAA VFR charts. Although they do not have quite the detail, they could well be of use for RNAV based flights.

Also, are instrument charts of any particular use to a pilot with an IMC rating?

Many thanks
S

[S-Works]

The Jepp GPS charts only go to FL50 I seem to recall so beware if going higher. The enroute charts are not much use to an IMC pilot as they depict airways which as you know you can't access in the UK using an IMC. If overseas you can fly VFR at VFR cruising levels in the airways but you will usually find flying direct is easier so use the VFR charts.

[dirkdj]

The Jeppesen VFR+GPS charts go up to the highest flight level you can expect in VFR, for example France up to FL115, Germany FL100, etc.

Jeppesen IFR charts are very good for IFR flight bu they show too little detail for safe and legal VFR flight. Controlled airspace is easier to locate on the VFR+GPS charts, so when I fly IFR OCAS I also use the VFR+GPS charts.

The VFR+GPS charts are not perfect but they have a common format for most of Europe. ICAO charts for some countries are better but all different in layout.

[Heliplane]

I agree that the Jepp VFR charts are not perfect (some missing/incorrect information and sometimes slightly unclear as to precisely which bit of airspace starts at which height) but I much prefer them for VFR in France as the normal French charts only go up to 5,500' (or somewhere around there). However, having used both, I much prefer the UK CAA charts for UK VFR flying.

The IFR charts won't help a great deal for non-airways/uncontrolled airspace IMC flying (ie in the UK) however they will provide some useful information on frequencies that is not contained in the VFR charts. Given you can pick up the Jepp IFR charts for under £10 each, it's not bad to carry them.

Generally though, if you have an IMC rating (and not a full instrument rating), you'll be flying off (or beneath) airways and most likely in uncontrolled airspace. In those situations, the VFR chart is best to use as, absent one of those fancy new glass cockpit things, it is the only thing that will give you proper terrain information whilst enroute (although ideally you would also have a traffic or deconfliction service from an ATC unit - assuming you're not flying on a Sunday - which might assist if you get too low for safety).

[IO540]

I agree with the two posts above.

Also, the Jepp "VFR/GPS" charts are available in electronic form, for about £200 for the whole set (covering the bulk of Europe) and one can view/print them from within Flitestar. This is called the "Raster Charts" CD. It can be run as a GPS moving map, using Jepp FliteMap.

The only thing I have not been able to do is to print automatic enroute sections (strip charts) out of them. Only the Flitestar-native chart formats can be thus printed.

The Jepp airways charts are of no use unless one has an IR and is flying IFR around Europe. However, I print off the "low level enroute" strip charts from Flitestar for this purpose, which at 1"=10nm scale show all the intersection names nicely, and have as a result not bought the airways charts for the last couple of years.

For IMC Rating flight, one just needs the VFR charts, because most of it is OCAS and any CAS needs an explicit transit clearance.

I would not say the Jepp VFR/GPS charts are clearer than the UK CAA VFR charts (the Jepp charts are often ambiguous as to vertical airspace extents) but this may be down to personal preference.

The other, rather bizzare, use of the airways charts is to find out where CAS lies for parts of Europe for which there are no current VFR charts. For example, for Greece you have to use the US ONC G3 chart (last updated 1998 and no longer produced) and this shows no CAS and the danger areas it does show are obviously out of date. So, to fly with this chart, you need to mark up on it the CAS shapes, and one way to get them is off the Jepp airways chart. The other way is to get them from Navbox...

The best use for the airways charts is as a sun shield; most IFR/airways flight is in strong sunshine :)

[Genghis the Engineer]

I'm another Jeppesen VFR chart fan, I prefer the symbology (and it's commonality with most of the rest of the world's charting), clarity, and the fact that they fold up smaller.

You do need to be a little careful with them at times - the update dates don't co-incide with the UK CAA charts, which can mean that occasionally somebody's snuck some airspace in that wasn't in your chart - also occasionally you have to trace around the lines to work out the height of the adjacent airspace.

But despite those failings, I personally much prefer Jepessen charts, and continue to use them.

They're also slightly cheaper, and last years make good wrapping paper for any presents for birthday presents for aviation friends.

G