VFR Flight Guides - Pooley's v. AFE
 

I'm looking to buy a VFR flight guide soon, and have been looking very closely at the Pooley's and the AFE versions, but I don't really know which is the better purchase.

What does everyone else use/recommend?

:confused:

Six of one and half a dozen of the other, I reckon. I've had both in different years. I get the spiral bound version, and Pooleys is a bit more compact and better bound to my taste. The information in them: well, for some places AFE is better and for some Pooleys.

What FREDAcheck said. The Pooleys is more compact, and yet I find it more readable than the AFE, thank to a better choice of fonts and map colours.
Sounds like the AFE has got more airfields listed, but I doubt i would be able to fly to all of them anyway... so I go for the P.

Buy Pooleys one year and AFE the next. That way you have the benefit of info from both, with one current and the other only a year out of date. It is also handy for cross referencing/checking information.

Go crazy and buy both... that way you'll never wonder what might have been.:}

DPT

.......or if you just want airfield info, sign up at NATS and get it for free :ok:

At the end of the day, why not save cash and just use the internet!

Get an iPhone and you can surf while you fly.

NATS has all the licensed airfields, and most airfields - even small ones like mine, Strathaven - have their own web sites.

Many microlight ones have weather and webcams!

And the web will give you taxis, local pubs, car hire....

I think it's worth carrying an AFE or Pooley's guide with you, even if you don't update every year. Compared to the cost of an hour's flying...

I often use the web as a source of preflight info, but there are times I change plans during a flight. If you print out everything you might ever need from the web, you'll spend more on paper than on Pooleys. Personally I don't think it smart to surf iPhones in the air, unless you have a 2nd pilot.

Wait a bit and make sure you buy the 2010 edition.

Cusco

If you regularly leave the shores of Blighty, then you need the Jeppesen VFR Manual (formerly Bottlang). That way, you have the same format on your plates for Glenforsa, Troyes, Peenemünde, Ærø and Ampuriabrava, and don't have to learn several different chart formats.