Avionics News March 2012 - 53

Then, in 1931, when the government began installing radio ranges at some of his destination airports, Jeppesen flew all the legs of each new installation and transferred his findings into his now famous notebook. As other line pilots learned about his notebook, Jeppesen began getting requests for copies. Like any other budding, redblooded entrepreneur, he saw the opportunity and borrowed $450 to set up business in the basement of his home. Priced at $10, a considerable sum in the middle of the Great Depression, Jeppesen’s original 50 Airway Manuals – mimeographed copies of his “black book” – immediately sold out. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, as part of the Boeing Company, Jeppesen is one of the world’s leading provider of navigational charts and other information for not only general, business, military and commercial aviation, but also the marine and ground transportation industries. Jeppesen also has branched into a growing provider of crew management tools, training materials and logistics for the air, marine and rail industries. Impressive indeed. And, to think it all started with a dime-store notebook. THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGING While there are literally millions of charts and diagrams with the Jeppesen logo in use around the world today, the introduction of a handy little device called the iPad has set the wheels in motion that will again change the way pilots view critical navigational information. “The Apple iPad was introduced in April 2010, and we introduced our first iPad-based chart product in July 2010,” explained Rick Ellerbrock, Jeppesen’s director of strategy, aviation. “It started getting great adoption from day one, especially on the general aviation side.” According to Ellerbrock, while initially there was some question about whether or not the Federal Aviation Administration would actually authorize the iPad for use as an electronic flight bag, those issues were put to rest in February 2011, when the FAA authorized electronic charts (e-charts) for the iPad. “Personally I give the FAA a lot of credit for being openminded in adapting policy and working with operators to get authorization for these new tools,” he said. “It’s been a bit of a quiet success story.” A success story indeed. According to Ellerbrock, Jepp charts on the iPad have been extremely popular from day one. “The iPad was literally made for this type application,” he said. “The fundamental benefit is you get access to the information you want a lot faster and more reliably. You’re not thumbing through volumes of paper, and there’s no chance of filing or update errors like with paper plates.

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“But, it is way more than an e-reader. This powerful computing device has capabilities that place no limits on our imagination.” Ellerbrock added that eliminating the time and inherent problems with manually replacing paper charts and approach plates in your Jepp book is one of the major benefits of the echart technology. “The standard way was to receive an envelope every two weeks with a bunch of new charts and a letter telling you how to update the manual,” he said. “Sometimes, it was a few pages, and others, it was a few hundred pages.” BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT “With the iPad and e-charts, it’s much simpler,” Ellerbrock said. “When you first load the application, it comes with the most up-to-date database. When a new revision is available, you now get an icon on the iPad. You just connect via Wi-Fi or 3G, and the update is all done automatically. It even has a
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Avionics News March 2012

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