Jeppesen vs. Government charts

Martin Pauly

Martin Pauly

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Martin Pauly
I've been using Jeppesen charts for a little while now, after decades of relying on government charts for IFR flying. Here is a summary of my observations so far.
 
Does it change the equation that "government" charts for the US and Canada are available free on our tablets, while Jeppesen charts always require a $$$ subscription?
 
Nice comparison Martin BUT I already have the FF Performance Plus package and I cannot see an additional $199/year advantage of the Jepp charts over the $299 I already pay. IMHO if I were a commercial or airline pilot flying many hours in IMC for my livelihood I MIGHT think about it. But the price penalty is not justifiable for my flying.
 
David Megginson said:
Does it change the equation that "government" charts for the US and Canada are available free on our tablets, while Jeppesen charts always require a $$$ subscription?
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Of course, that's an important consideration. We all choose what we spend our money on, and just like a GNS430W lets you navigate to your destination the same way a GTN750 does, some people spend the extra money on the GTN. No different with charts.

- Martin
 
I'm fortunate that the planes I rent all have jepp charts, but you have to be aware planning with the faa charts, then flying with the jepp charts, of the differences. I generally have both loaded. I like that the Jepp chart doesn't make you calculate things out, it's all right there for the most part.
 
Thanks for the nice comparison. As an IFR student, I’m gonna stick with the gov’t charts for now.
 
I remember Gov charts in the 90s. They were so horrible everyone used Jepp. Now I have no problem using the free Gov charts because they a a million times better than they were.
 
Foreflight specific. If a person subscribes to the Jepp Plates, are the Gov plates still available?

Why you ask? Because if I decide that I prefer the Jepp plates, I'll still need to teach the Gov plates, etc.
 
Yes, they are still available. They both show up. Just take your pick.
 
I didn’t watch the video and I am not a FF fan, but Jepp is hands down superior to NACO.
 
ja_user said:
So when I pull up HOU or another busy airport I'm going to see twice as many plates?
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Yes... this my home field.
(And our new 36L RNAV has a special theme)

EDB82C39-B21A-45FA-9DCF-F767E3919152.jpeg
 
you don't use the plates tab? Where every airport diagram, Approach, SID and Star is listed all together?
 
I believe the plates tab is where you build a library of plates you use. I don’t use that feature a lot.
 
Fairly green pilot here, with the ink on my IR still wet. I've tried both gov and Jepp plates, and honestly prefer the gov plates personally. Perhaps it's just the primacy talking but the Jepp plates just look kinda goofy to me.

To be fair, I can see how the Jepp plates organize info to be "easier" to read more quickly and efficiently. But I hardly think that would be at all worth the $ub$cription fee$ when the gov plates have the same info available for free, unless of course you're professionally flying a handful of approaches every working day of your life.
 
If you fly a lot of IFr your brain will teach itself through muscle memory to read the NACO plates very quickly. There is no need for the better flow of the Help charts.

Now if you fly infrequently, the Jepp charts are more valuable because they help you process in what most consider the correct order.

Think about that before you make statements about who should be using which chart.

But it does come down to money :)

Tim

Sent from my HD1907 using Tapatalk
 
I get jepp plates for free on my ipad thanks to work, but the G3X in my airplane only has gov't plates. It's been a million years since I have used them, but they have improved greatly. So I've been using both, but still prefer jepps due to their familiarity.
 
ja_user said:
you don't use the plates tab? Where every airport diagram, Approach, SID and Star is listed all together?
Click to expand...

I prefer to call up the plates during my pre-flight planning from the 'Airports' tab and create a "binder" to store the ones I expect to need for that flight in the 'Plates' menu tab.

Being able to call up airports and procedures directly from the 'Plates' tab is a nice feature, but not one I use very often.
 
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David Megginson said:
Does it change the equation that "government" charts for the US and Canada are available free on our tablets, while Jeppesen charts always require a $$$ subscription?
Click to expand...

Familiarity seems to drive the decision preference for most pilots I know.

I'm back and forth across the USA - Canada border frequently, but as a private pilot still haven't seen the need to pay extra for Jepp.
 
These are my impressions having used both at different times for almost 30 years. My current FF subscription includes them as a promo. I was curious about the FF integration.

In paper, Jepp was definitely superior. Better quality paper. In FF, they have a benefit in lower storage requirements.

Also, if one is flying internationally, Jepp provides huge value by providing a consistent format regardless of local variations.

Other than those, I have never seen what I view as a substantial objective difference between the two. The data is the same. There are things I subjectively like better in the Jepp presentation of the data and things I like better in the FAA presentation of the data.

As @GRG55 said, it's mostly about familiarity. And personal preference. High wing vs low wing. GTN vs IFD. Jepp vs FAA.
 
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Arrow76R said:
Nice comparison Martin BUT I already have the FF Performance Plus package and I cannot see an additional $199/year advantage of the Jepp charts over the $299 I already pay. IMHO if I were a commercial or airline pilot flying many hours in IMC for my livelihood I MIGHT think about it. But the price penalty is not justifiable for my flying.
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Airline pilots don't pay for their Jepp charts. The company does, and it's a tailored subscription.
 
Martin Pauly said:
Of course, that's an important consideration. We all choose what we spend our money on, and just like a GNS430W lets you navigate to your destination the same way a GTN750 does, some people spend the extra money on the GTN. No different with charts.

- Martin
Click to expand...
Fair enough. In the paper days (which ended only recently for me), I was very fond of the Nav Canada charts, because they came printed on high-quality white paper (rather than the grey newsprint the FAA ones used), and were spiral bound to lie flat (vs the glue-bound FAA plates). I also really like the presentation of the Nav Canada charts vs what I've seen of Jepps or FAA charts. That said, it does add extra cognitive overhead going back and forth across the border not having exactly the same format, so I can see if I flew to the U.S. more than once or twice a year, I might get value from having a less-optimal (for me) format that was the same on both sides.

Perhaps Jepp charts are like Tim Horton's restaurants when you're taking a trip on the highway in Canada. You know they're never going to be really good, but at least you know they're never going to be really bad, either. :) That's the benefit of standardisation.
 
At a terrain laden airport I have less problem reading the plan view essential information on the Jeppesen version:


MFR F.jpg


MFR J.jpg
 
David Megginson said:
...Perhaps Jepp charts are like Tim Horton's restaurants when you're taking a trip on the highway in Canada. You know they're never going to be really good, but at least you know they're never going to be really bad, either. :)
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Hmmm. A Canuck slagging Tim Horton's. :eek: Seems rather anti-Maple. :D
Just like saying you've finally given up on the Leafs. :p
 
tspear said:
If you fly a lot of IFr your brain will teach itself through muscle memory to read the NACO plates very quickly. There is no need for the better flow of the Help charts.

Now if you fly infrequently, the Jepp charts are more valuable because they help you process in what most consider the correct order.

Think about that before you make statements about who should be using which chart.

But it does come down to money :)

Tim

Sent from my HD1907 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

and you brain will teach you where to find all the information Jepp puts on their charts that you have to look elsewhere for NACO too.
 
I made the comment on Martin's video (and he replied). He "missed" discussing one other difference between the two and it's right on the Boeing approach charts he highlighted.
upload_2021-1-24_9-4-30.png
 
ja_user said:
you don't use the plates tab? Where every airport diagram, Approach, SID and Star is listed all together?
Click to expand...
Yes. But I use it as a method to build a "trip kit", where all the diagrams I would need are collected in a single spot.

Or when I'm going to a particular place frequently for training or currency flying.
 
ja_user said:
you don't use the plates tab? Where every airport diagram, Approach, SID and Star is listed all together?
Click to expand...
AggieMike88 said:
Yes. But I use it as a method to build a "trip kit", where all the diagrams I would need are collected in a single spot.

Or when I'm going to a particular place frequently for training or currency flying.
Click to expand...
I use the plates tab via the airport tab for preflight planning. To review the likely procedures for applicable limitations, NOTAMs. and potential gotchas and to mark them up. In flight I select procedures from the procedure advisor via the map page.

I used to build a trip kit - an automatic trip binder was actually on my ForeFlight wish list at one time - but pretty much stopped doing that after the procedure advisor came along.

Just different strokes.
 
Oh hell now I have to figure out what procedure advisor is
 
ja_user said:
Oh hell now I have to figure out what procedure advisor is
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Start here.... (screen grab is from my phone... with iPad it is in the right side of the FPL edit screen)

upload_2021-1-24_15-27-4.png

it’s a helpful feature
 
Just to throw another wrench into things, here's what a Nav Canada approach plate looks like. Note the altitudes/distances for the glidepath (for someone without vertical guidance).
CYND_RNAV_GNSS_RWY_27.png
 
David Megginson said:
Just to throw another wrench into things, here's what a Nav Canada approach plate looks like. Note the altitudes/distances for the glidepath (for someone without vertical guidance).
View attachment 93506
Click to expand...
They are pretty easy to read. There really isn't a heck of a lot of difference. The data is all similar and there really are limited ways to present it.
 
Oh yeah, I’ve used that a bunch. Just didn’t occur to me to brief the plates there. I like the binders
 
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