Where can I buy FAA sectionals in the UK?
 

The title says it all really.

Tried the usual online pilot shops but they only seem to stock European charts. I'd have thought that with the number of UK flyers going off to the states each year, there'd be a market for the charts over here. Perhaps not.

I've done the usual searches on Pprune and on Google, but can't see anything. Anyone help? Thanks.

I'm sure that Transair or Pilot Warehouse sell these. Having said that I can't see them on their websites. I have some charts for the Florida area and I'm pretty sure I ordered them from a UK supplier. Not terribly helpful, sorry. Try calling Pilot Warehouse - I'm sure they were the people I ordered from.

AeroPlanner has sectionals online. I think access to them is available with the free membership. You can also print them if you like. You'll still need to buy them at some point I guess but it'll help you for now with planning and familiarisation (if required) and then you can buy paper copies easily in the US where they'll be cheaper. Having been lambasted elsewhere on this forum for not equating every pound wasted with minutes of flying time perhaps this will make amends.

Transair do the Florida and Bahamas sectionals (page 30 of Xmas catalogue).
18 months ago I got California/Nevada sectionals online from Sporty's in germany: very quick arrived in 48 hours but I'm not sure if German branch of sporty's is still functioning.

I'd echo previous advice of getting them as long as possible before you go to US and study 'em thoroughly: they're very different from our charts!

Safe flying

Sporty's departed Germany (Europe) a couple of years ago, business wasn't too brisk apparently, plus they insisted on pricing everything in Euros (ECUs) long before they became a viable currency. It was also a bit clinical, not a hands on type of store. I asked Hal Shevers why he had started advertising the US address in Europe, although Wiesbaden was still operating and his retort was: 'Well, some people say the Channel is wider than the Atlantic!'.

So much for that.

You might find some good addresses for charts on http://www.landings.com

If you want anything other than Florida you will need to mail order then from the US. I use http://shopping.pilotportal.com/index.html - they have the full selection and it takes less than a week to get them.

I have bought many US and Canadian maps from Sportys in the US. It only takes a few days for them to arive and they can be Fedex'd if you are in a hurry. They have everything you might need. They also sent two copies of all the approach plates since the first set was about to run out just after I would receive them.