Simviation Forums

When I had FS2000, it came with a lovely thick book, that was full of approach plates and charts and stuff. I enjoyed reading this book, as I always learned something from it.

Over time, I've lost the game & the book.

Yesterday, we went to several book stores in the area, and any time I would ask about a book of approach plates or airport charts, I received the exact same result:

First, the clerk would take a step or two back (this kills me, do I stink all of a sudden?)
Next, they look me up and down, and then say, "You need to contact the FAA for those kind of things because they are either:

a) top secret"
b) not available due to terrorism"
c) not for the public"
d) all of the above"

No amount of explaining how these things were freely available on the Internet, and that I was just tired of buying ink to print them out would calm them.
I would be followed around the store as though I was going to shoplift.


So, to my question, since such a reference is not available at your local Barnes & Nobel,  could someone recommend a rather comprehensive collection of charts & plates in good old printed paper version?

Thanks for the help.

Just head over to your local airport.. Most FBOs keep current charts and plates on hand.

VFR sectionals are about $8, so are a set of plates (usually covering a state or two)..

Or, if you don't mind waiting for an order.. they're $5.25 at Sportys.

http://www.sportys.com/acb/Category.cfm ... 9&CATID=92

Or, http://naco.faa.gov

Thanks to you both.  :)

For sim purposes, nothing beats out-of-date charts and plates... because they are free.  

Go to any FBO, preferably not a fancy one with fake plants, uniforms, and a car rental desk, and ask if they have any stuff they're throwing out.

[quote]For sim purposes, nothing beats out-of-date charts and plates... because they are free.

Yeah, free is good.. and dated charts are plentiful. Even if you don't get any first time out.. just ask them to keep some for you

Thanks everyone!  :)


The nearest airport to me is KRID (5 minute drive), but it's usually not very busy, except when the skydiving school is running.

I'm going to have to head over there and see what they have.

KRID...

Urbana is just a hop, skip, and a 30 minute drive from here.  ;D

I'll be waiting.

go to www.airnav.com

click "airports" and type in the airport ID

it will bring all the airport info up

if you scroll to the bottom of the page (bottom 1/3rd) it will have links to PDF approach charts you can print at home for free

Another thing you could do is go here: http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/sep/2755 and get a set of Jeppesen expired charts for an area that you want for much less than a new set, although that's only if you prefer the Jepp charts instead of NACO since the NACO charts are much cheaper.

A good source for approach plates is right here at REAL AVIATION/AVIATION INFORMATION/US AIRPORT DIAGRAMS.

I've found a great way to print out the rather large sectional charts I find online: http://www.blockposters.com/gallery.aspx

The one downside is having to size the image down to 1Mb, but it automatically slices the image for you and converts it to a downloadable pdf file to print out.

You can make these as big as your ink supply allows! Very versatile.

This thread in a round-about way answered my question, which was, is there a way to view approach plates in the game itself? I guess the answer to that is no. Jeppesen had EXACTLY what I was looking for - http://simcharts.jeppesen.com/help/SimChartsHelp.htm#SIMCharts_in_FSX.htm - but they stopped the service on April 1 of this year.