Page 16 - Volume 11 Number 3

Cutting the Clutter
All in all, Jeppesen has done an admirable job of decluttering their SID/STAR charts. Moving the textual data from random placement within the plan view to a dedicated reading pane has created a far cleaner presentation of the critical route, altitude and speed information. Removal of extraneous latitude/longitude data also really helped to clean up the plan view, especially in complex SID/STARS that have a half-dozen or more fixes and navaids depicted. In their quest to declutter, Jepp even went so far as to shorten its naming conventions for the procedures. Now, rather than spelling out the names in long-form, they are presented in a shorter (but just as easy to read) form, along with the proper flight plan formatting in parenthesis. For example, the HAWKZ FOUR RNAV ARRIVAL would appear as “HAWKZ 4 RNAV ARRIVAL (HAWKZ.HAWKZ4).”
Night Mode and Right-Sizing
A problem presented to early adopters of electronic charting was night viewing. The mostly white charts were overly bright for night viewing and negatively impacted night vision. Eventually, software evolved to incorporate a “night mode” that essentially worked on the principal of negative imaging – swapping the bright white areas of the chart to black and the black text to white. The
Figure 4: A screen shot of the HAWKZ4 Arrival in “Night Mode.” Note that while the speed restrictions are still desplayed in magenta, the normally-magenta MSA sectors become amber. Terrain and water features remain equally obvious in night mode, as does the Contours Intervals scale.
14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
results were generally far easier on the eyes at night. Since Jepp’s new format is designed with electronic reading in mind, their chart’s “night mode” seems a bit more refined. While negative imaging is still the basic principal, blue altitude restrictions and magenta speed restrictions remain unchanged. Magenta MSA data, however, is changed to AMBER. The author did note some slight color variations in night mode across different electronic charting devices and Jepp’s online examples (Figure 4).
Finally, the charts no longer need to conform to a universal sizing model meant to coincide with being housed in a binder; as few now are and even less will be into the future, as users continue the steady transition to electronic charting devices. Instead, the redesigned charts can be custom-sized in order to accommodate the to-scale depiction in the most user-friendly manner. This can result in portrait or landscape orientation, square, or variations of each. Of course, with electronic chart viewing software, this is a non-issue, as charts can be rotated to any orientation and panning and zooming can be used as necessary for optimum viewing.
More to Learn
Jeppesen has already created an extensive variety of training resources online. You can learn more, view videos, work through e-learning presentations and docu- ments, and participate in interactive training (including quizzes to test your knowledge and understanding afterwards) via:
Main Training Website: www.jeppesen.com/charts Chart Enhancement Training: http://ww1.jeppesen.
com/aviation/microsite/chart-enhancement- training/index.jsp
Webinar: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/playback/ Playback.do?id=7xcia7
More Examples: http://ww1.jeppesen.com/aviation/ microsite/chart-enhancement-training/examples.jsp KA
NOTE: All graphics are used with permission from Jeppesen and are not intended for navigational use.
Matthew McDaniel is a Master & Gold Seal CFII,
ATP, MEI, AGI and IGI. In 27 years of flying, he has logged over 16,500 hours total, over 5,500 hours of instruction-given, and over 2,500 hours in the King
Air and BE-1900. As owner of Progressive Aviation Services, LLC, (www.progaviation.com), he has specialized in Technically Advanced Aircraft and Glass Cockpit instruction since 2001. Currently, he also flies the Airbus A-320 series for an international airline and holds eight turbine aircraft type-ratings. Matt is one of less than 25 instructors in the world to have earned the “Master Certified Flight Instructor” designation for seven consecutive two-year terms. Mr. McDaniel can be contacted at (414) 339-4990 or matt@progaviation.com.
Copyright 2017, Matthew McDaniel.
First publication rights granted King Air magazine via the Village Press. All other rights reserved by copyright holder.
MARCH 2017