Jeppesen Helps Armchair Pilots Stay On Course

Sat, 04 Nov '06
Releases SIMCharts v4.0 For MicroSoft's Flight Sim X
Jeppesen released v4.0 of its successful, long-running SIMCharts product line.

Designed exclusively for flight simulation enthusiasts, virtual airline operators, and those pilots who use PC simulators to develop or hone their skills, SIMCharts v4.0 plugs and plays with Microsoft Flight Simulator X and contains a worldwide terminal chart set that matches the Jeppesen NavData contained in Flight Simulator X.

The product allows users to sort, view and print the same Jeppesen arrival, departure, approach and airport charts that thousands of pilots and airlines around the world use every day.

New for v4.0, Jeppesen's armchair customers actually download the requested charts online. That means no more pesky CDs for customers to keep track of, or physical product for Jeppesen to ship. You don't even have to go to an actual store to buy the program, just call Jeppesen with a credit card.

Of course, that means you must have an internet connection to use the program.

For $59.95, SIMCharts gives virtual pilots full, worldwide chart coverage. The price includes unlimited access for one full year to over 25,000 real Jeppesen terminal charts.

Just as with previous versions of SIMCharts, customers can print charts to have on hand for quick and easy access. You can also call up a chart during a Flight Sim X session and display it in a separate window.

Another feature places your virtual aircraft's position on the chart real-time. This gives the pilot added situational awareness, and also makes for a great instrument flight training or proficiency tool.

Jeppesen business programs manager Dan McGaw says, "Everyone from seasoned instrument pilots, to serious gamers, to student pilots find value in the added realism that SIMCharts brings to Flight Simulator X. This latest release of SIMCharts offers all the features and benefits our customers have come to expect, but now with the added convenience of a web-based global data set that contains over 25,000 charts. Now our customers can literally fly just about anywhere in the Flight Simulator X virtual world and be covered with charts for a nominal annual fee."
The new version provides improved search and filtering capability, so you can quickly find and sort charts in the database. The database no longer contains enroute charts however -- they're included with Flight Sim X so Jeppesen deleted them.

The company is very careful to remind everyone that SIMCharts do not contain current navigation data. That means you can't print them out and use them in your real airplane for actual navigation use.