Trash & Navs,
I was being a bit tongue in cheek when I suggested to use the laptop on the run ... intended only to generate some responses.
I use a number of database CDs for various purposes and, from a general usage point of view I don't like them .. I am a bit of a dinosaur and far prefer hard copy to work with. Likewise, I don't embrace technology for technology's sake ... I am the sort of fellow who prefers to hand fly the climb and descent and, (shock-horror) fly raw data. But the reality is that the inconvenience and inefficiency of an office full of paperwork is fast becoming a liability .... so even dinosaurs are being forced to move with the times ...
However, the lower cost, far more convenient format (try carrying a trailer load of tech docs from job to job) etc mean that the sheer day to day convenience of having the things on CD is superb.
On-line is fine except that
(a) access may not be available when you want the data
(b) for any of a number of reasons net speed and site access may be restricted quite significantly .. CD works off-line and, subject to a good CD search engine or other easy-use file access, is great.
So far as AIP etc is concerned, I would far prefer to get a regularly updated CD, work out what I need on a day to day basis .. and print out the data subset which suits my requirements .. shouldn't be too hard to work out a reasonably comprehensive set of paper for the operation - oddball diversions and the like included ...
Issue date, surely, is no different to the present paper system ... the date of the document .. philosophically, printing a file is not much different to making a photostat of a hard copy document.
My preferences and needs are suited just fine by having a CD (which I can cart around with me) in lieu of the hard copy (which I have carted around with me for donkey's years) .. no difference at all in usage .. notams ... whatever .. just the original format. The question of notams is quite different in that the AIPs etc are fixed in time, regardless of format, and must be supplemented by today's notams .. I can't see any convenient way of getting around that sort of problem at this stage.
It is, of course, very much horses for courses ... some requirements are always going to be better suited to a library of paperwork .. but, for most of us, there has to be a better way. For the upmarket cockpit we are now seeing the introduction of quite effective computer-based systems and these, naturally, will become more widespread as time passes.
As to the situation for the infrequent GA flyer .. his/her needs would be suited to periodic net access with the notams of the day .. I can't really see a difficulty there.
Overall, though, I would be surprised if the subscription cost for a CD service could not be brought down to a very reasonable figure. For instance, like many in the Industry, I subscribe to a US service for provision of US regulatory data ... supplied on CD at whatever intervals and the cost is comparatively peanuts .. when I think of the heartache in years gone by having to get it all in hard copy ... whereas now I get substantially more data, with no inconvenience, and at a fraction of the cost .. forgive me but I am very one-eyed when it comes to this subject ...
Perhaps the thread might consider discussing the pros and cons of the three basic ways in which the documentation service might be provided (doesn't matter really whether we are talking of the AirServices or Jeppesen equivalents) -
(a) existing hard copy service
(b) net access service
(c) CD service ...?
Last edited by john_tullamarine; 28th Aug 2002 at 10:19.