REVIEW:
Desktop Wings IFR Atlas
ne of the most asked
questions amoung flight simulator users is "where do I get charts to
use with my simulator"? Last year Desktop Wings provided part of the
answer to that question when they made their
World Aeronautical Charts Atlas available. Now they have provided
the rest of the answer with the release of their new IFR
Atlas.Many sim pilots like to fly using real world procedures and since the newer sims have sufficient scenery and navaid accuracy and availability using real world charts is the best way to accomplish this. Many sims pilots, though, don't know where to find these charts and even when found discover that a complete set of charts is quite expensive.
The Desktop Wings IFR Atlas provides the solution to this situation for IFR flight. In a single spiral bound book it provides all the charts necessary for low altitude enroute flight anywhere in the U.S.
Typical portion of one of the low altitude enroute charts included
in the atlas. This shows a section around New York City. Charts
like this make up most of the book.
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The entire book is 246 pages in length. Most of it is taken up with the low altitude enroute charts. These charts are used by real pilots for instrument flight at altitudes up to 18000 feet. For airliners and other high altitude fliers there is a similar set of charts known as high altitude enroute charts. For flight sim use, though, the low altitude charts are adequate for any type of instrument flight.
In addition to the standard IFR charts there are other charts, tables
and lists that pilots will find handy. These include a list of VORs
by name/location (including lat/long), VORs by ID, VOR planning
chart, airport lists, communications frequencies for the
U.S./Canada/Mexico, a flight plan form, holding patterns, detailed
map legend, Morse code chart, list of MOA's (Military Ops Areas),
index of Restricted Areas and area charts. Lots of useful information
all in one place!
This VOR Locator/Plan Chart is located at the front of the book. You
can use it to plot a VOR to VOR route over long distances and as an
index to the standard enroute charts.
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The charts are expired but flight simulation scenery doesn't
necessarily keep up with real world changes anyway, so this is really
a minor concern.
Selected major airports have detailed area charts like this
one of the Atlanta area. These charts show available instrument
landing approaches and approach frequencies.
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Even if you are only beginning to get into instrument flight there's no better way to start than by using the real charts that real pilots would use. There's not much point in starting to learn something new using the wrong material. IFR charts like these can be intimidating at first, but with practice and use of the legend you'll soon pick up what you need to advance as a sim pilot.
The IFR Atlas is published by:
Desktop Wings, Inc.
Review by Nels Anderson
PO Box 422
Dublin PA 18917
Phone: 800-848-6198 or 215-453-1405
FAX: 215-453-0286
Web:
http://design-web.com/DesktopWings
nels@flightsim.com