I'm one of those odd birds who likes to fly VFR in FS9, using real charts, planning the flight the "real" way, using real-world weather data, and not bothering with the sim's flight planner, GPS, or Map utility.

I have quite a few expired USA charts, but not all of them, and can't justify the expense of buying charts just for flight sim (my recent real-world flying has not required much in the way of charts, either).

So I've taken to making screencaps of chart sections displayed on SkyVector and/or RunwayFinder, and printing them out... but even this can get costly, and it's a bit of a pain to do every time I want to fly.

So I finally tried out an add-on that allows you to view pdfs in a pop-up window, with minimal framerate hits(Nils Meier's very simple pdfKneeboard). I've decided this works for me, so I've begun piecing together a library of complete  sectionals and terminal charts for the entire USA except Hawaii, then making pdfs out of them. All of them.

A lot of fussy work, but I'll only have to do it once. The fact that they don't jibe 100% with FS9 in terms of old or new airports, towers, roads, etc. is not a big problem, really- it's still about 1,000 times more realistic than using the FS  Map, and a lot more interesting and challenging than using GPS.

At the very least, proper VFR pilotage and DR, using a proper chart, gives you something to do on long hauls.

And charts are just kinda cool. 


At any rate... my question is:
If I upload this library, along with a tutorial on how to use the charts in simulation , would anyone be interested in trying it? 

You could print them and mark them up like real charts, or modify the image files and do it all virtually. What I'm offering is single images of entire sectionals and TACs, in jpeg form, along with the chart legend, scale, special use airspace and frequency data for each chart, and of course a how-to, not only for how to use this stuff in MSFS, but also the basics of VFR flight planning and nav, for those who want to learn.


My other idea is to make up another set that includes the old Radio Range info, as found in that add-on... and there's also a chance I might make up a set of IFR enroute charts and approach plates (well, maybe not all of them, LOL).

I'm doing this for myself, but I'd be happy to share, especially if there's any interest.

ShaneG wrote on Mar 5^th, 2010 at 5:14am:
ain't it, though? I'm mystified by sim pilots who let the sim plan a  flight, slap on the autopilot, and go watch TV or whatever. If all you're interested in is departure and landing, why not just fly departures and landings? And with only a little practice, a pilot can navigate by compass, clock and chart as accurately as the GPS, even threading through and around airspaces, and only a little bit slower, enough that it doesn't matter.

Working off the chart during long VFR flights makes for a completely different, involved experience. And just wandering around is more fun with a chart to look at, even if the sim does not quite match it (although I've found many things are portrayed quite accurately; certainly enough to know where you are at any given time).

Quote:

Bear in mind that the one I mentioned does not use the sim's kneeboard, so it's not exactly "seamless". One thing that takes getting used to is that in order to zoom, drag, or change pages, you have to have made your last mouse click on that window, not the main window. But it's no biggie once you get used to it. You can size or place it any way you want, and toggle it on/off with one keystroke or button push. Defaults are "K" for on/off, "Ctr O" to open a pdf (which opens a normal Windows folder navigation window), "Page Up/Down" to navigate thru pages, and "ctrl+" "ctrl-" for zoom in/out. I'll probably have each actual sectional as one pdf page; it's easy to use the mouse to drag it along; more like reading a chart that's in your lap.

I'll probably also include a nav log, maybe in spreadsheet form; that would be a page in your flight pdf, so you can just jump from that to the chart, etc.

And best of all is that all of this could be free, even the pdf authoring/reading software (I use Open Office and it rocks). 

Quote:

Yes... this is why I'm not looking to do that. I should get those charts... without the "magic taxi line", finding your way around airports in FS9 is harder (for me) than in real life, even when Tower gives you a route verbally- not sure why; it just is.

Well, it looks like this will not be do-able using screencaps from websites as the raw material... although the charts themselves are not copyrighted, sites that display them can assert copyright on that version, and would not like to see such a complete reproduction distributed in the way I'm proposing, even with credit given.
  Fair enough, it takes a lot of work to put something like that together, but unfortunately the copyright-free originals, which can be acquired from the FAA's chart-makers (NACO), are not free. 

The DVDs are a slightly better deal than downloading the individual sectionals, but still... I don't mind the work involved in doing it the way I've been doing it, but right now I have more time than money to devote to flight sim, so I'm not sure if I want to go that route. If I were to get into IFR charts as well, it would start getting expensive.

I haven't discussed all this with NACO yet, either... although technically the charts are not copyrighted, there may still be some basis for them to frown on such a thing.


They do offer free downloads (some airport diagrams, etc)...but I'm not sure they'd want people to be able to get all the sectionals for free (even though they might be outdated) when they are charging money to download them... 
On the other hand, SkyVector and others offer images derived from the same files for free without conflict, so... who knows?

I will dig deeper into this, but right now I have the feeling that I've figured out why nobody else has done it yet. 

Great idea, though, isn't it? 

Update:
Finally heard back from the first party I contacted at NACO; they referred me to someone else (good ol' FAA, LOL)... so it will be a little while, yet.

I am still brewing up a tutorial on using such charts regardless, which may still be useful for anyone willing to do all the work of formatting the charts themselves.

UPDATE:


The FAA is now offering all of the sectionals (and some other stuff) for free download! 

They will all expire soon, and are already not 100% in sync with the world depicted in FSX and older sims, but they should do well enough.


I've started re-formatting them and making PDFs. Stay tuned... creating the pdfs will take some time, then there's the tutorial... 

Okay... created the last pdf this evening. I've given samples to a few simmers, but haven't heard any feedback from them yet... 

So I may as unleash it as is; coming soon to the SimV Downloads section!

The video version, if it ever happens, will have to wait... that will be even more work, and I'm not sure if there will be enough interest to make it worth the effort.