Be careful out there. For Germany, SD seems to be working well (apart from the known issue of roads showing up in slightly different locations than where they really are), but other countries sometimes have quirky airspace designs and quirky ways of publishing the information in the AIP, which - if nobody goes the extra mile to elaborate the information - can lead to gross errors.
Again, the Skydemon forum, section "charts and aeronautical data" is a real eye-opener.
Again, the Skydemon forum, section "charts and aeronautical data" is a real eye-opener.
Ouch! Just did that and from what I read there I guess I won't be trusting SD too much (have yet to try it, but plan on doing a comp evaluation of SD/ANP/Jepp soon).
I've just had a quick look.
This is interesting (Italy). Basically SD are saying if it's not "well published in the national AIP" (what does "well published" mean?) they won't incorporate it.
Yet, somehow, Jepp managed to do it right.
Can anyone dig out the Italian AIP where this airspace information is published?
Regarding the numerous points regarding SD: For the reasons mentioned in the different European countries, thats why I will use SD as a primary planning tool (and navigation tool alongside the GNS430), but I will always cross-reference the entire route with the correct and up to date regional paper charts. If there is a conflict, or something that doesnt appear on SD, then I can either try and memorise it or make a note of it on my PLOG and or highlight it on the chart. I do very little European touring, La Rochelle and back being my longest trip, and one would argue relatively simple, but the last thing I want is a disupute with the local authorities about something which may not have been on SD. The only real defense if you can offer one, is using and carrying the local national charts as well.
I absolutely love SD but I dont have 100% confidence that it is truly representative of all local national charts, sadly. And I think the same can be said about the other products (?) who presumably generally use the same data? Maybe other products have a better route to getting charts corrected than SD, I'm not sure.
I absolutely love SD but I dont have 100% confidence
How can you 'absolutely love SD' but 'don't have confidence' in it?
Sorry, but IMHO the attitude SD appear to display WRT the accuracy of their charts has no place in aviation.
If all it's good for is flight planning, you can use Skyvector for free.
Actually that's one of the few advantages of the "scanned" raster charts (like in Air Nav Pro) ... you get the original.
Actually that's one of the few advantages of the "scanned" raster charts (like in Air Nav Pro) ... you get the original.
EXACTLY.
The new vendors are going for a self-created vector representation because it enables the display of customised layered maps, but also because it avoids paying big licensing fees to Jepp or whoever. They just get the stuff out of the AIP, which is free. They may be paying a little bit for the B2B service from Eurocontrol but that is peanuts compared to the 2-3 digit per customer license fee they would be paying to an established map vendor, and as Alexis said earlier Jepp don't license theirs anymore anyway.
I wonder if these software vendors will one day get hit with legal action over copyright of the AIP, like Jepp got some years ago?
Peter,
I previously explained the issue here.
Basically, the TMAs are made of various sectors, each with differing lower limits. But these sectors are not defined "textually" (by coordinates). The AIP merely refers to a chart. And this is where SD say they cannot accurately "transfer" that information into their database.
The same seems to apply for the french national park areas.
The question "why can Jepp do it and SD cannot" is a good one, but again, I think that it merely has to do with the amount of labour / effort one is willing to put into a product. Sheds a whole new light on the (often bashed) Jepp products....
Actually that's one of the few advantages of the "scanned" raster charts (like in Air Nav Pro) ... you get the original.
Same with Foreflight etc in the US. You fly with the official FAA charts, which also means you get the terrain shading and all the other chart symbols the way you've become accustomed to.
Sheds a whole new light on the (often bashed) Jepp products....
Well, over the years I have alerted them to a few (admittedly rather obscure) errors in their paper charts. They always replied immediately and fixed the issue in the next cycle.
