which scale of chart for VFR
 

Is there a received wisdom on when to use 1/4mill or 1/2mill charts? Context: PPL training, nav exercises - ie fairly short VFR trips. I thought that one might as well use the biggest scale but others seems to use 1/2mill. Oddly, I seem to do better with 1/2mill but I really don't see why that should be so.

Half mil unless you're navigating around some very busy airspace, close to airspace boundaries, and need all the detail there is available. Helicopter operations for instance.

But for a typical x-country at 100+ knots the quarter mil charts are simply too unwieldy.

It depends upon the speed that you fly, and to some extent how much room you have in the cockpit.

The object is not to map crawl, but to use the map to provide you with sufficient relevant information to navigate. As stated 1/2 Mil is the norm, helicopters may use 1/4 Mil and even 50K when looking for landing sites.

I've often pondered this question. Certainly speed has an influence on the choice and so does where you are flying (complexity of airspace, density of visual reference points etc). Actually I think what we really need for GA VFR flying, in the UK at least, is a chart scale half way between the two.

H

Or the half-mil charts that they used to do without the airspace details above 5000 feet. They de-cluttered the charts very well and in any case I get a nose-bleed above 3000 feet.

I'd go for 1:500000 overall; for difficult areas, add fragments of 1:250000 or 1:100000 as necessary - just copy the relevant area onto an A4 sheet.

What you REALLY need is a proper GPS and knowing how to operate it.

Now awaiting incoming......

We teach basic map reading skills and navigation with the 1:250000 chart and then move onto the 1:500000 for point to point cross country. No chart is wieldly if you fold it and prepare it properly for the flight. In my opinion to teach map reading & navigation correctly you need to show & use the 1:250000 chart in the early stages.

FWIW I've never actually used a 1/4 mil map. I know people who have them and have probably glanced at them in their flight bag but I've never looked at one. No reason particularly, just never seen the need. A 1/2 mil map goes by fast enough for me, I would imagine a 1/4 mil positively races past.

No., that is the 1/4 mil charts!

My old instructor used to say "1/4 mil's are for Cub pilots looking for pubs"

1:500k for real-life VFR flying, 1:250k for low-level navigation when/if required. I don't think you'll find anyone who's done serious flying over Europe using 1:250k charts the entire way (moving map excluded) :)

500
 

as long as 1:500 00 is good (I mean especially the topo information there) is can be used even for low level. You just need to learn how to read that map and what to expect there.

One point often missed about the half mil charts is that the 'shape' of the towns is remarkably accurate and seem to be easier to recognise that the more detailed town areas on the quarter mil charts.
Unless things have changed over the last couple of years, be aware that the half mil charts often stop at 7,000 feet. I had chance to come a cropper on this flying back from Jersey once when I entered an airway at 7,500 feet that wasn't shown on the chart.
Microlights, low and slow, are best with quarter mil chart, otherwise half mil is the one to use.

UV: No, that is the 1/2 mil chart VG refers to that was issued some years ago as a short-lived alternative to the full airspace chart, and which left out all airspace above 5,000ft. IIRC it had LOW annotated all over it. It only lasted for one issue, perhaps two, and was dropped due to low take-up. Shame, I thought it was an excellent idea.

To answer the OP: I fly low and slow (85mph cruise and rarely above 2,000 feet) and yet always use the 1/2 mill. On very rare occasions I also have available a 1/4 mill for specific local bimble purposes. OK, I mean when looking for a pub...

? I'd never noticed.

CAA half-mil's show airspace up to the FIR/UIR boundary, used to be FL245, now FL195.

Whoops, sorry!

I've only used a 1/2 mil chart, and never found the need to get a 1/4 mil, even for local bimbles. If I'm carrying passengers I normally take up some OS maps of the local area, they always seem to enjoy following our progress using those whilst I'm using my 1/2 mil. It's very useful if we're looking for a particular road or house - when we are within a couple of miles the OS maps' larger scale becomes very useful, and the passengers enjoy navigating us towards their house.

Most of my flying is at about 2,000 ft AGL so I use the usual 1/2 mil chart, along with my GPS which displays the identical 1/2 mil chart - and unlike the paper map, you can zoom in and it doesn't have creases!

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we have Augmented Reality (AR) glasses that allow us to look at any place/road/monument on the ground and it will display the info, a bit like the FlightRadar app I've got on my iPhone that you just point at any passing airliner.....:8