Up to date Navigational charts

[Phil Perry]

As assisant Club safety officer, I occasionally have a quiet rampage throughout our pilot members asking if their Nav charts are up to date. ( Well, I'm semi retired so I have a lot of spare time to annoy people )

 

I have been amazed, in past times that pilots are flying with charts which are as much as four issues out of date. This is stupid, as there is never a list of alterations promulgated b the CAA UNLESS there is a MAJOR CHANGE in airspace geometry within the area covered by that chart. I am talking about the UK Half Mil Southern at the moment, which covers the UK from it's Southern boundaries up to around just South of Doncaster . . .This is the banner headline sent to ALL Flying members via email yesterday :

 

The latest 1:500,000 scale South chart, edition 44 comes into use today. Please ensure that you only fly with a current chart. This is a legal requirement.

 

There are quite a few 'flyouts' planned, with small groups of aircraft going in directions various as we have a four day bank holiday from tomorrow ( Good Friday ). I shall do another check early in the morning to see if any naughty people are intending to fly using sheet 43. . . . It Isn't funny and it isn't bloody clever to take the wee wee out of this regulation. The Big Bad CAA ( they're not really ) take a very dim view of airspace infringements caused by old maps. Now, I know that a lot of pilots use digital mapping, downloaded onto their iPads and paid for by subscription, but the fact remains that a paper map MUST be carried on All flights. We ain't fully digital just yet. . . . .then there are the guys who only fly once in a blue moon. . . . One of our chaps was banned from the site for 2 months after it was found that his aircraft had not got a current permit to fly. . . .totally illegal and this would have nullified his flight insurance too AND he carried an innocent passenger . . also uninsured. . . Pilots are just people with an odd pastime, and people sometimes do strange things if they think that they'll get away with it. The local Council authority doesn't like us much ( Why ?. . .I have no idea. . .probably stuffed with Penguins ) Any excuse would be used to withdraw our planning permission to run the airfield. So,. . bad press resulting from some twerp busting airspace with a duff map would not help us much. . . .

 

There is a lovely Bloke there, a retired NHS surgeon who has recently purchased an Ikarus C-42 aircraft,, after just winning his licence. He asked if I wanted to fly down to Wales as his passenger, as his Wife was doing something else. . . .I politely declined as a result of something mentioned elsewhere on this site,. . and said I'd be too busy on the Air /Ground radio, but thanked him profusely. . .( ! ) As you do. . . .

 

 

[Phil Perry]

I always preferred the Aussie mapping system. We had VTC Visual Terminal Charts. . .close up detail of most major airfields, the VECs, Visual Enroute Charts, then RNC's Radio Navigation Charts showing all the Radio aids, but bereft of any ground mapping. . . then of course, the WAC charts. . .Maps showing all the terrain and stuff. . . Brilliant. . .we don't get stuff like that here. . . we just get the half and Quarter mil charts, Stuffed to the brim with information which must confuse the hell out of student pilots. . . .

 

 

[coljones]

Hi Phil, where can one buy UK charts over the net - just in case I want to fly Hadrian's Wall or around Scotland on my next visit? Cheers

 

 

[old man emu]

According to this, What's going on with WAC charts? | Sporty's Pilot Report Articles - from Sporty's Pilot Shop , WAC charts are not going to be printed from 2017. However there is this:

 

Non expiring standard navigation chart. These Australian charts are part of the ICAO 1:1,000,000 international series. Designed for pre-flight planning as well as pilotage, these charts are constructed using Lambert's conformal conic projection and conform to ICAO specifications. These charts are updated every four years. (Source: World Aeronautical Charts (WAC) )

 

 

[Yenn]

If WAC charts are not printed after 2017 we are going to have a lot of out of date charts, as our only means of VFR flying in a large part of Australia. The VEC charts only cover the highly populated areas and until about ten years ago they did not go North of brisbane

 

 

[old man emu]

What's going on with WAC charts? is about what is happening in the USA. No doubt with FAA approval. The FAA reasons that digital advances in technology and navigational capabilities are making these printed charts obsolete as pilots shift their attention more toward digital products. If CASA follows the FAA, then WAC charts for Australia might not be printed anymore.

 

Since WAC charts are updated every four years, then it seems a good idea to check NOTAMs etc before each flight to ensure that information on the WAC chart you intend to use has not changed.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Hi Phil, where can one buy UK charts over the net - just in case I want to fly Hadrian's Wall or around Scotland on my next visit? Cheers

Here you go Col,. . .I generally use this mob, although there are quite a few other outlets. Many Licenced GA airfields stock charts. You'll need the UK Northern 1/2 Million chart to safely examine old Hadrians bit of a wall and or Jockland. . . . . Use the 1/4 Mil for more detail, but no airspace detail above 3,000 feet printed on the 1/4.

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