No publisher of aeronautical information is immune to errors, but, somewhat surprisingly, I have never heard of any publisher offering users a bounty for discovering such errors – e.g. in the form of free updates. Or am I wrong?
Tim at SkyDemon is always very grateful when errors or omissions are pointed out to him. I am glad to give feedback to improve the product, that is the only bounty I require.
Jason, normally the IAPs. An example:
UK airfield with a NDB/LOC/DME. AIP correctly stated that, in the absence of DME, the time from FAF to MAP should have been 2:52. The Jepp had this as 4:38! I’ve not encountered such errors on SD, largely because SD just cuts-and-pastes IAP plates, but I have seen mapping errors (danger areas incorrectly depicted).
The point is that there should be no errors. All data should wholly replicate the AIP, which of course should be correct in that it presents the precise information that has been originally submitted. If there is a single error in transposition of data then there is clearly a weakness within the system. It is rather irrelevant where the error occurred as any error undermines the whole document.
which aspect do you find typically wrong with Jepp
The database card of my old GPS (Trimble/Freeflight Approach 2000) had about every second approach or departure coded completely wrongly. But then again the GPS wasn’t approved for approach in Europe.
I have never heard of any publisher offering users a bounty for discovering such errors
Offering a bounty is one thing, but Jepp wasn’t even interested to the point of answering these reports…
there is clearly a weakness within the system
The weakness is easy to spot. It’s that the the authoritative publication is (in Europe, as opposed to the US) still on dead trees (or the digital equivalent, PDF), in 2014, ~40 years after the internet,rather than structured digitally parseable data. EAD is supposed to rectify this, but it has its own share of problems, and progress has been glacially slow.
In the accident reports I’ve read where incorrect aeronautical information was a factor (very few), the pilot’s use of derived sources (like Jeppesen) as such were never mentioned as factors, nor were they otherwise critizised. (As long as the information was current!)
Also, although you can certainly use an ICAO format approach chart operationally, the Jepp chart format is better suited for operational use. Also different countries doesn’t apply the ICAO format in exactly the same way.
There is a reason why people use Jeppesen charts even though you (in Europe) you can get all the stuff for free through EAD.
There is a reason why people use Jeppesen charts even though you (in Europe) you can get all the stuff for free through EAD.
Unfortunately, depending on the country, it’s not all free nor fully available. It seems that in Germany for example, or in Czech Republic, only the main airfields are listed under the EAD, whereas in France, all public airfields have their data listed.
There are various problems with the AIP charts, both current and historical.
Most of them are designed for A4 and that is a large piece of paper to have on the kneeboard. And if you print it out A5 you need reading glasses to see some of the text – unless your age is, ahem, well below the typical IR holder population 
My ability to read the markings on 0805 resistors is a rapidly receeding memory… And if you display it on an Ipad, that text is barely readable (borderline unreadable on my Ipad2) even with glasses, unless it is the latest type but then it is again very small. Ipad Mini – forget it. Whereas Jepp plates were designed for A5 from the start, and the digital versions for the original tablets which were 800×600. Obviously you can zoom / pan around but that is just completely wrong for flying seriously (there is enough other stuff to do in IFR terminal procedures).
Most European CAAs (the UK one definitely) intentionally draft the stuff to comply with their ICAO obligations and to not compete with Jeppesen (the UK head of charts told me so) with whom, I suspect, some sort of deal has been done, following the litigation against Jepp over AIP copyright breach.
Some AIPs were not online till recently. Greece comes to mind, and the printed version was so useless and inaccurate that nobody used it. Even now, Germany does not AIP-publish VFR airport charts… you have to buy them.
And once outside Europe, it all changes anyway.
As a result of all this, professional pilots, and many high-time private pilots, simply cannot be bothered with the AIP stuff.
Unfortunately Jepp is expensive (outside the USA), but there are lots of people sharing the data in various ways…
I think if Jepp made a mistake and published the wrong outbound leg timing, nobody would notice because almost nobody who flies for real uses timing. You follow a pattern or the GPS, or use DME, etc. Timing is just a way to get confused or – in some locations – killed.
I think if Jepp made a mistake and published the wrong outbound leg timing, nobody would notice because nobody who flies for real uses timing.
When I started instructing IFR roundabout ten years ago, timed approaches were not even part of the syllabus any more. So I would say that most IFR pilots trained in this part of our planet during the last decade have no idea what “outbound timing” on an approach might be. Unless they were taught by some oldschool instructor (“GPS can fail every moment but a proper mechanical watch will survive you in the crash that you cause using it”) who instructed them outside the syllabus.
Anyway, for proper timing I need to know my groundspeed and if I have a means for measuring that, I can also measure distance…
And regarding some posts from the last days: I’ve been flying commercially all over Europe since 1991. Never have I seen or used a chart from a national AIP other than during radiotelephony ground school. Jeppesen or similar commercial chart products (e.g. LIDO which are preferred by some airlines) are perfectly valid and fullfill every legal requirement for flying both privately and commercially anywhere on this continent. In paper as well as in electronic form, but the latter needs individual approval for commercial flyers.
Offering a bounty is one thing, but Jepp wasn’t even interested to the point of answering these reports…
Not always. Some years ago I spotted two errors on the Spanish VFR charts and reported these to Jepp via email. Got an acknowledgement back within a couple of days and the errors were corrected in the next chart cycle.
but there are lots of people sharing the data in various ways…
www.openaip.net comes to mind. It doesn’t seem fully operational though.
