On 5/9/2006 9:21 PM, wrote the following:
Hello,

I'm new to this IFR stuff and I'm wondering if I can subscribe to Jepp
or some other service and print off approach plates and airport
diagrams at my liesure? Ideally log into a web site every month, see
if the plate changed, and if so, re-print it. Seems easy, so I
imagine its available... any links and costs would be a great help.


I have used a couple of software packages that help you organize and
print the plates you need:

Seattle Avionics (seattleavionics.com) had a product called
SmartPlates that was very nice. Now it is incorporated somehow in
their Voyager flight planning package. I am not clear how, as I have
SmartPlates, but not a full Voyager package, grandfathered in. The
product is a monster, based on Microsoft's ugly dot-net package. If
you like buying memory for your computer and watching hourglass
symbols you will love this app. I no longer use it.

A guy named Greg Siemon has written (singlehandedly I think) a nice
package called Aviator Trip Pack. You can look at it he
http://www.cmensys.com The interface is a little quirky but it runs
very fast. Greg has recently added a bunch of DUAT/DUATS stuff and
flight planning features, but I have not used them.

I use Greg's package with a utility called FinePrint
(www.fineprint.com) which allows me to easily print booklets of
plates, nicely sized to half page, page numbered, date stamped for the
printing date, and two sided. This makes life very easy as I just
print a new booklet every time I need one.

For backup, I carry paper plates from Air Chart Systems. Their system
is much cheaper than an NACO subscription and is entirely adequate as
a backup.

Finally, take a look at ChartCase Pro
(http://www.flightprep.com/rootpage.php?page=HomeEFB) if you want to
see the extreme of what can be done with the NACO plates, sectionals,
low and high altitude charts. Those guys have them all georeferenced
and set up for use on tablet computers with GPS receivers. It's
really slick. (Truth in Advertising: I was a beta tester for them.)

HTH