I presume we're talking about printed charts here? I hope so because the Jep VFR digital charts are CARP!
If you mean the Jepp product called "VFR/GPS Charts" i.e. the digital versions of the printed charts of the same name, yet they were of crap quality but I notice they have just improved a lot last year. They used to use really crude jpeg compression.
You need a Jepp product to run those. I think the cheapest way to do it is to buy Flitestar VFR Europe which is about £100. If you just buy the VFR/GPS Europe charts (about €300 for the whole CD) you don't need to update the FS program itself, AFAIK. Jeppview (the approach plate product) stops working after about 2 months of no updates but I don't think FS does.
All I know is that my non-certified glass panel (I'm on a permit) which is of a pretty high spec, uses a Jep database. The ground is green and the sea is blue. No topography or conurbations and when I first got it no NDBs and LHR was in class G airspace. (Because all class A was excluded from the VFR data!). It took me ages to get the NDBs after I was told by Jep that they're not included because you "don't need them for VFR" even though VORs were included. I can find no legend to explain the different colours used to mark airspace borders and there is no indication in the data of what levels the airspaces start or finish at. My manufacturer is in the process of switching to PocketFMS which I hope will offer some improvement to the airspace but it will still rely on the Jep data for the surface information. I hate to admit it but Skydemon on my iPad gives better information than my £10,000 kit in the panel!
I didn't think that Jeppesen did topographical or terrain data. You sure that isn't the responsibility of the panel manufacturer.
Stick -- I think that has always been true of the Jepp data which they sold to GPS makers. But their normal VFR maps have always shown the airspace classes right (mistakes excepted). See e.g. the samples in my VFR presentation which is under Articles.
The problem is that there is no way to run their VFR maps on a panel mount product. You have to bolt something like an Ipad in there. And the map doesn't rotate. It's always north up.
Evidently Jepp have run two parts of their map business without exchanging databases.
Same goes for all the proper VFR maps. You have to use a handheld device.
I have used the Jeppesen VFR-GPS charts first time last autumn during a safety training, where Jepp gave them away for free. I have to say, I liked them because there are indeed some information, that the DFS charts don't display, for instance the possibility of winch launching at an airport. I have found the display of airspace quite neat, displaying all airspace requiring a clearance in red and all without in blue. So you don't have to actually bother which kind of airspace you have, as long as you don't have a clearance, don't enter the red. FIS frequencies are easier to read and the coverage of a single chart is bigger than with the DFS charts, so for Germany only four charts are needed, in contrast to eight charts with the DFS. BeNeLux is one chart from Jepp.
On the other hand, the DFS has displayed information about the traffic circuit, which comes handy if you have no VAC of the airfield. But since nearly every country has their AIP published for free (except Germany, of course), I don't think that this is a deal sealer. The display of topography is better for pilotage on the DFS charts. I guess, that's where the "GPS" in the Jepp charts makes its tribute.
And, unfortunately, Jepp doesn't have charts of northern Scandinavia, so single chart design for whole Europe isn't entirely true. Also, there is a terminal area chart of the Ruhr area in 1:250000 from the DFS.
So in the end, I come along well with both charts. Both have their advantages and drawbacks. Can't say much about the CAA or FAA charts, haven't flown with them already.
I have flown in Estonia with a copied roadmap and notes entered in pencil once. That was difficult to fly with, since the notes were in Estonian, too. But I think they have better charts now, than they had back then.
cheers,
I just realised why I never purchased the Jepp VFR paper charts. To cover the areas I am mostly interested in, which is everyone on the one Southern UK CAA chart, I would have to buy Jepp Charts EG4, EG-5, LF-1 and LF-2. Is that a clever use of boundaries to force the purchase of more charts?
Piper, you may have a point, but not 100% sure about it either. A similar situation persisted for years in southern Spain, where LE5 only covered the coast, but this has recently (2011?) been remedied and the cut of the Spanish Jepp charts now is much more realistic for real-world flying than it was.
Some time ago, there was an airprox involving an SEP which almost hit a glider being launched on a cable. The report stated that the pilot was using a Jepp chart which did not show the gliding site and its cable hazard. I understand that many such gliding sites were not shown on their charts at that time. I don’t know if things have changed since.
(Every year, there are several airproxes involving powered aircraft uncomfortably close to glider winch launching sites. It is only a matter of time before there is another collision in these circumstances. Such collisions are usually fatal.)
When the CAA/NATS 1: 1,000,000 (not 1:100,000) chart was issued, that too omitted many gliding sites with cables. I don’t know if there is a later version which is more complete.
To my mind, anyone who flies below 3000 feet cross-country, and does not carry charts showing launch cables which are typically up to either 2000 or 3000 feet, is in breach of the rule requiring carriage of charts sufficient for the safe conduct of their flight.
Chris
The report stated that the pilot was using a Jepp chart which did not show the gliding site and its cable hazard. I understand that many such gliding sites were not shown on their charts at that time. I don’t know if things have changed since.
The Jepp charts have significantly improved in the last few years. They do show glider winches and skydiving next to the airport symbol.
