October 17, 2017 FAA has published a new edition of the, effective October 12, 2017. An FAA presentation about the changes to the CUG is available (PDF). The new edition is available as a free PDF at the FAA website,. This update includes a What’s New section, starting on page 5, that highlights changes from the previous edition. The guide explains the symbols and terms used on VFR and IFR charts published by the FAA, including sectionals, IFR enroute charts, and terminal procedure charts (SIDs, STARs, and IAPs). July 22, 2017 The FAA has begun depicting stadiums that are covered by the –that is, stadiums with a capacity of at least 30,000 seats.

World Aeronautical Raster Charts; Chart Name Current Edition No. It is best to download one zip file at a time using a broadband internet connection during off.

The new stadium symbol, a red diamond with the label STADIUM or STADIUMS, appears VFR sectional and terminal area charts as shown in the examples from the Seattle charts below. The new symbol isn’t described in the current edtion of the, but it does appear in the legend of updated VFR charts.

You can find more information about this new symbol in document (PDF) at the. March 6, 2016 FAA appears to have abandoned to charge for online charts and data. A says that “FAA is now making its available for free approximately 20 days prior to their effective dates.” covered by this notice include: • Terminal Procedures Publication (d-TPP) • Visual Charts (d-VC) • Coded Instrument Flight Procedures (CIFP) • Digital Airport/Facility Directories (DAFD) • Digital En Route Charts U.

(DECUS) • Digital En Route Supplement (DERS) You can find the free digital products at the FAA website,. June 23, 2015 The FAA will soon stop producing and distributing World Aeronautical Charts (WACs).

According to announced in the Federal Register by FAA’s: The FAA is continuing to expand the availability and capability of modern aeronautical navigation products. At the same time, we must rigorously analyze our suite of products and determine the feasibility and practicability of providing products that are no longer in demand from the public or have become obsolete due to technological advances.

Since 2007, unit sales of the World Aeronautical Charts are down 73 percent. (Sales are down 10% year over year 2013/2014.) The cost to develop this product is independent of the sales. The cost of resources drives a steady and consistent rise in costs associated with the production of the World Aeronautical Chart to the FAA The FAA concludes that maintenance of both VFR series charts (the World Aeronautical Charts at a scale of 1:1,000,000 and the Sectional Aeronautical Charts at a scale of 1:500,000) is unsustainable. As a derivative product, the World Aeronautical Chart does not contain the full aeronautical and base information available to users of the Sectional Aeronautical Charts.

The notice gives the following schedule for the final versions of various WAC charts: FAA will discontinue the compilation, printing, and dissemination of the World Aeronautical Chart series and we will continue to maintain the compliment [ sic ] of other comprehensive visual aeronautical charts. Charts: CC-8, CC-9; CD-10, CD-11, CD-12; CE-12, CE-13, CE-15; CF-16, CF-17, CF-18, CF-19; CG-18, CG-19, CG-20, CG-21; CH-22, CH-23, and CH-24 will cease to be printed beyond September 17, 2015. Charts: CH-25; CJ-26, and CJ-27 production will end upon their next scheduled printing dates of December 10, 2015; February 04, 2016, and March 31, 2016 respectively. (See the Dates of Latest Edition).

December 11, 2014 Here’s another item from the meeting on October 28-30. Ron Haag from FAA’s AeroNav Products (the division that produces charts and aeronautical data) said FAA plans to move all VFR chart publication dates to the same 56-day dates used for IFR charts and data. According to, the change will synchronize printed VFR charts (mainly sectionals and terminal area charts) with: • Terminal procedures (instrument approach charts and charts for SIDs and STARs) • En route charts • The A/FD The new dates will also link VFR charts with updates to airspace. Each sectional and terminal area chart would print every 224 days, with about 25 charts being updated on the following near-term schedule: • 8 January 2015 • 5 March 2015 • 30 April 2015 • 25 June 2015 The schedule allows AeroNav Products to better align updates to adjoining sectionals and Class B areas. For example, the Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix charts would all be published on the same date. The new 56-day cycle is possible because a new print contractor has increased capacity. Haag’s presentation notes that eventually AeroNav Products plans to update all digital VFR charts on a 56-day cycle, which will be good news for the increasing number of pilots who have gone paperless. Aveva Vantage Pdms 12 Sp479.

Members of the forum raised several questions about synchronizing printed and electronic charts and how NOTAMs will be handled. According to the minutes of the meeting, Haag said his group is working through those issues.

October 14, 2014 Before the advent of the iPad and similar tablets, aviators used paper charts. Most instrument-rated pilots subscribed to charts published by Jeppesen, and updates, in distinctive yellow envelopes, arrived in the mail every two weeks. Updating the approach charts and associated information meant pulling out one or more thick binders and manually tearing out the old sheets and replacing them with new “plates.” That manual update process was time-consuming and prone to errors–a chore often left to downtime at the airport.

Now, most pilots, from airline captains to students, have adopted electronic charts, at least for some operations. Increasing numbers of us have gone paperless, a practice allowed by the FAA under several guidance documents.

For non-commercial operators, the most relevant document is. The old manual update method had one virtue, however.

You handled the new charts, and you could easily see which procedures had been canceled or updated. New procedures were also obvious. Downloads of new charts to an iPad update the information quickly and accurately, but you can’t easily determine which charts have changed. The FAA does offer tools to help you discover what’s new with each data cycle. For example, the page at the AeroNav Products website is an interactive way to find new or changed terminal procedures (IAPs, SIDs, STARs, etc.) for IFR flying. You can search for procedures added, changed, or deleted in the current cycle or the next updates to be published. Narrow a search by the volume (Northeast Vol.

1, Southwest Vol. 2, etc.), state, or city in which the airport(s) you’re interested in are listed. You can also search for specific a specific airport by typing its ID or name. The PDF compare option displays the two latest versions of a chart with highlights that mark what’s changed. Looking Ahead: Procedures in Development To learn about instrument procedures that are under development, visit the, where you can search for airports by name, ID, or city. The page displays details about forthcoming changes to existing procedures and information about procedures that are under development, including preliminary charts. VFR Chart Updates and Bulletins To review changes to VFR charts, see the, where you can download PDF summaries of late changes to and errors on published charts.

March 25, 2014 is transitioning to a new method of producing its digital charts. Details are available. UPDATE (1/30/14): Based on productive feedback from our chart users, we have further improved the rendering of our raster chart samples. Type and features appear clear and crisp with improved edge definition.

Compressed file sizes are generally unaffected, while uncompressed file sizes are much smaller. VFR Charting has greatly improved its digital-Visual Chart (d-VC) process and we are excited to give our users an opportunity to see the new product before full implementation. Instead of using scanned chart images, the new d-VC is created directly from our digital files, resulting in a crisper and brighter image with improved georeferencing. The new files are of the same type and format as the old files. Each.zip file contains a TIF, geospatial (.tfw), and metadata (.htm) file. However, Sectional Charts will no longer be divided into a north and south half.

The entire chart will be contained within the TIF. Additionally, the resolution of the TIF is improved to 300 dpi. We are allowing our users to view and test the new product. However, we will continue to supply the existing d-VC files through the 6 MAR 2014 chart cycle. Please see the (ZIP) file provided.

Your feedback is very much appreciated. Please send any comments, questions, or concerns to. This excerpt from the Seattle sectional shows the new format.

Online Charts Online Charts Classic Era Charts Please Note: These charts are from many years ago, and often the magnetic variance and navaids have changed. Since FS2004 and FSX model the magnetic variance and navaids from the modern day, these charts may not be usable, or will need to be modified to allow use in FS. Some are from courtesy of Chic Eather and scanned by John Hewson. KMDW charts from 1950 courtesy of Alan Courtney. Most of the rest I scanned myself. John Hewson has also set up a Flickr account with many charts available; search for his user name jwhshd.

Links to free (modern) aeronautical charts. These links were provided by FSAviator - thanks! Charts (Aeronautical Information Publications = AIP) from real world regulatory authorities will be current whilst those from FS community resources will be historic and no longer valid for real world use. However all these links point at real not 'invented' AIPs. Sites with current data often require the user to assent to conditions of use. Links are to the relevant page where assent must be given. Broken links when seeking AIP are often due to bypassing the user licence agreement.

These tend to change URL and/or position in the page hierarchy. Before reporting broken links please back track to main menu page of relevant web sites. >*Sectional and Terminal Area Maps* For USA sectional maps search the File Library for: Matt Fox Sectional Pack For high resolution sectional maps search the File Library for: Matt Fox Sectional For high resolution terminal maps search the File Library for: Matt Fox Terminal FS resource. United States charts only. These are mostly relevant to those who wish to practice pioneer era navigation by reference to aviation maps and the FS scenery. Excellent resource for those with a second monitor.

Allow FS users to practice either simple 2D or full 3D pioneer era en route navigation compliance. US and Worldwide sectional and enroute charts. >*Departure, Arrival and Approach charts* Worldwide FS resource, but links to FS and official sources. Click on yellow arrows at right to download. Some don't work, and many of the links are also listed below. Good place to start.

Links to various country's chart resources. Many dead links etc and many resources pointed to do not provide free charts. Requires effort to tunnel down to available data. Site of last recourse. Always type 'name of nation IAP' or 'name of nation AIP' into Google before bothering with this resource.

An FS community resource with full coverage in some areas and none in others. Always worth checking, but sometimes difficult to search. May require effort to tunnel down to available data, but the best FS chart resource for places not listed below. Argentina Virtual airline resource with good (full?) coverage. Charts for many airports. The official resource with much additional text (Spanish) and diagrams of visual circuits etc but no free charts (except enroute).

Cartas are maps. Australia Official resource. Bolivia FS chart resource. Brazil Official resource.

Cartas are maps. Canada Official resource. Central America (Costa Rica, Guatamala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize, and Panama) FS Resource Official resource.

Colombia FS Resource. Cartas are maps. Cuba FS Resource Chile Official resource European Union FS Resource Official resource. Requires registration. Applicants subject to security vetting but site not limited to aviation professionals. EU member states sometimes have a national portal. Easier to be 'vetted' once.

Save for France and Norway it is now difficult to obtain current charts for Europe without security vetting. Vatsim is best alternative source for out of date charts but many missing.

France and former French colonies outside Africa Official resource. No log in required. Use Quick Access selector in middle of page.

Former French Colonies in Africa French government resource. No log in required. Hong Kong Official resource. The rest of China is payware. Iceland FS resource. India Official resource.

Jamaica FS resource, Kingston only. Malaysia Official resource Maroc Official resource. AD2 Aerodromes are approach plates. Mexico FS resource.

Cartas are maps. NATO Central and Northern Region A rare (singular?) official military procedure resource with no security vetting. Select Publications from menu and then on next page choose country/airport of interest. New Zealand Official resource. Norway Official resource or mirror.

Norway is not a member of the EU. Pakistan Limited FS chart resource. The official resource with much additional information in English but charts are payware. Singapore Official resource. Other charts available at left. South Pacific (Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Pacific) Official resource. Spain Official resource.

Turkey FS resource. United Kingdom Official resource. Other charts available at left. United States There are various other websites that 'portal' this FAA resource. They tend to be slower. >Please report if the URLs above are dead (NOT links from them!) to Tom Gibson at tgibson at sunstroke dot sdsu dot edu. Feel free to propose additional links to sources of free downloadable aeronautical charts which are not e.g.

Vatsim or Eurocontrol resources already linked from the pages above.