VFR flight guides
 

Hi

Just a quick one.

How do Pooley's, AFE and Jeppesen Bottlang VFR flight guides compare? Is the latter worth the extra money.

Thanks for your help!

James

In my view Pooley's and AFE's flight guides have much the same information but the styles are slightly different. I have used both but prefer AFE because I am more familiar with it, not because of any fundamental difference. Others may disagree. I buy the spiral-bound versions and they start to fall apart by mid-summer. By Christmas they've had it.

Bottlang is only available lose leaf, and that is how I tend to use it, just taking the required and expected plates with me. The folder is quite bulky, but at least its only one volume unlike the Aerads. For some stange reason, the Jeppesen Bottlang VFR pages are the same size as the Aerad IFR pages and not the same size as the Jeppesen IFR pages! However, the holes are punched differently (of course) as are the holes in the lose leaf versions of AFE and Pooleys.

Bottlang is the only one of the three to include Ireland and I found it quite useful for a recent trip. Bottlang has (mostly) a single lose leaf sheet for each aerodrome, with an airfield diagram and info on one side and a coloured map of the surrounding area (very good indeed) on the other side.

Suggest you buy a different one each year as really, personal choice will probably outweigh any differences.

I've got an AFE spiral bound one and it's fine. It stays open at the selected page, it's softback so it doesn't hurt too much when it hits you which comes in very useful with my landings :rolleyes: and I like having details of all the airfields I could possibly divert to.

I don't think the AFE guide is an official aviation document, so it's probably best to double-check the information with an official source before relying on it.

I like Bottland because you get not just the airfield plate, but on the other side you also get an area plate (for 99% of airfields) showing the bigger picture for about 10 miles around, including VRPs etc.

I too use the Bottlangs with the update service. However, the more plates I actually use, the less impressed I get. Sometimes little or no circuit information, and occasionally (and more seriously) completely out of date.

Perhaps my expectations were a little too high, or maybe I'd have just been better off with a Pooleys?

Jx:rolleyes:

Hi, thnaks for the replies so far.

Just to add to my first question. Do all three guides roughly have the same number of airfield charts?

Cheers, James

No 2,
The answer is yes - roughly. I'm not going to count them all, but I think Pooleys and AFE have roughly the same number of UK airfields (AFE I believe advertise that they have the most), and (without counting) Bottlang is similar but remember that includes the Irish airfields as I mentioned before.

Bottlang has fewer farmstrips than the others, but then you can always buy Lockyears farmstrips guide as well, although why licenced airfields like Sandtoft are in the farmstrips guide is beyond me.