Jeppesen Jumps on the Wagon

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Maintaining, carrying and accessing current paper charts can be a royal pain, which is the whole raison d'être for the electronic flight bag (or EFB). Awareness of the EFB reached a critical mass in the last year when the iPad was introduced. A simple-to-use, reliable, off-the-shelf device that could be acquired at a reasonable price without the necessary software (aka "app") is a non-starter. Lucky for us pilots, there were a variety of EFB apps that came out of the gate with the iPad. The one I've been testing lately is Jeppesen Mobile TC. I will get to my review of their iPad app and subscription, but first some commentary.

Again with that Old Chestnut?

Years ago I wrote on my now-defunct freight dog blog, comparing and contrasting the FAA's Aeronav (nee NACO) terminal procedures with Jeppesen's products. Some operators and flight departments provide specific chart products to their flight crews, while others let their pilots choose which products they want to use and reimburse them accordingly. I am familiar with and use both Aeronav and Jeppesen chart products since, as an instrument instructor, I need to be able to teach both. I may be like a sax player who doubles on flute, but I find that some pilots have a strong preference for Jeppesen.

My aversion to Jeppesen's products stems historically from two main issues: Price/value and customer service. Jepp charts have always come at a premium and many pilots were willing to pay the extra price for the value-added features. For example, Jepp SIDs list the required climb gradients in feet/minute for a variety of airspeeds and that saves the pilot from having to convert feet/nautical mile to something more useful. On approach charts, Jepps provide a wider range of airspeeds/timings/descent rates and the effects of inoperative equipment (like approach lighting systems being out of service) are conveniently shown in the minima section for each chart. And if you're flying outside the US, you'll probably be using Jeppesen products. All these thoughtful features show initiative and innovation, something that adds value and justifies a higher purchase price.

The thing is, the FAA charts have always offered several distinct advantages: Low cost, easy revision process (just throw the old book in the recycling bin), and inset maps on each approach chart. The inset map is particularly helpful on approaches that involve a circle-to-land maneuver since you don't have to pull out and refer to a separate airport diagram. Things got a bit more difficult when Aeronav changed the policies for chart retailers, which dramatically reduced the number of authorized dealers and made it difficult to obtain oddball charts or a chart that was close to its expiration date.

Things really began to sour for me when Jepp stopped including new en route charts with each update. This was an understandable cost saving move and customers were initially assured that if we ever needed any chart replaced, we only needed to ask. On one occasion, I damaged an en route chart. I asked for and was promptly sent a replacement. What surprised me was that I was charged for that replacement! And there was the occasional problem of missing or incorrect procedures, again understandable seeing the amount of manual labor required to collate each "brick" of charts. On several occasions, I or one of my students found a procedure was missing in a complete brick of new charts. Then there was the time I found an approach for an airport in Ohio in my California subscription. When I quit flying freight, I decided to let my Jepp subscription lapse. I just couldn't justify the cost.

Phoenix Rising

When the Jepp Mobile TC app was announced, I surmised that most (if not all) of the aforementioned problems would be ameliorated. After all, any EFB app worth its salt should be easy to update accurately. What kept me from trying Jepp Mobile TC when it first became available was ... wait for it ... the cost structure. Instead of offering subscriptions for individual states at a cost similar to the old paper subscription, Jeppesen initially required the purchase of at least a major region. That would have cost more than twice the price of my old California paper subscription. To add insult to injury, my inquiry about getting a trial version of Jeppesen's app to review on this blog never garnered any response whatsoever. All this gives one the impression that Jeppesen is a big company (they are owned by Boeing after all) with a big payroll, a lot of procedures, numerous layers of management, and a desire to go after the big fish (part 121 and 135 operators). So much for the vaunted efficiency of the private sector.

Recently Jeppesen saw the light and offered electronic subscriptions for smaller geographic areas at a lower cost. I purchased a subscription for California at a cost similar to the lapsed paper subscription - about $120/year. Downloading the app via iTunes was uneventful. Purchasing the subscription on Jepp's web site was a bit irritating, but I finally got it to work.

Like most any other electronic subscription or purchase, a receipt was sent via email. Thing is, it didn't contain the serial number required to activate the iPad app. An inquiry email to Jepp's support was promptly answered and I had my serial number. Another pilot I know called Jeppesen to order and was given his serial number over the phone. The email I received said it could take up to an hour for the subscription to be activated, so I waited. After 30 minutes or so, I tried activating the iPad app with my serial number and it worked. However, the download screen informed me I was waiting in line to download. Wow! Somebody has figured out how to translate phone support concepts to the internet download process! Once the download actually started, it completed quickly and without any problems.

Executive Jet Charter recently received OpSpec approval for using Jeppesen Mobile TC on the iPad as a sole means of carrying chart data. One would assume that this has generated significant interest in Jeppesen product, but readers should be aware that there are other iPad solutions out there that have received the same approval, namely ForeFlight Mobile HD. So if you believe that Jeppesen has a lock on the approved EFB market for the iPad, you'd be wrong.

Jepp Charts on the iPad

The Jepp Mobile TC app is a well-designed yet surprisingly bare-bones chart viewer so my review is going to be brief. The charts themselves appear crisp, you can zoom in or out using the usual gestures, and setting up favorite airports in straightforward and intuitive. Tap on the airplane icon in the upper left to access either your list of favorite airports or a list of all airports in your subscription.

You can setup favorite charts within a particular airport by tapping on the star next to the procedure. This allows you to exclude procedures at a particular airport that you're not capable of using (like RNP approaches).

Once you have selected a chart for viewing, you can use the red slider at the bottom of the screen to quickly page through other procedures for the selected airport. It helps if you have the Jepp chart numbering scheme committed to memory.

The app also provides an easy-to-access brightness control for night flying.

Needed Enhancements

There are several things missing from Jepp's Mobile TC app, the most glaring omission being support for displaying en route charts. Paper versions are shipped as part of the subscription. En route chart support is said to be in the works for a future release, but for now you'll still need to carry, use, and update some number of paper charts.

Jepp Mobile TC didn't recognize my GNS 5870 bluetooth GPS receiver so that means no geo-referencing on any chart, at least with this release. I've yet to receive the software that is shipped with the subscription purchase, but I'm told it will not run under MacOS. That means if I want to print out paper copies of any of the procedures, I'll need to access a Windoze machine or use an emulator like VMware Fusion or Parallels. The only other way around this would be to print directly from the iPad, but ... wait for it ... Jepp Mobile TC doesn't support printing from the iPad.

One hopes that Jepp will address these shortcomings in future releases of their product, but for now Jepp Mobile TC is relatively expensive for what it offers. If you cannot tolerate any other chart representation and simply must have Jepp charts, this is the app for you. If you are more flexible and willing to accept Aeronav charts, more cost-effecive and feature-rich apps are available.