Shouldn't NOAA Charts be free for electronic download?

[Guest]

Our taxes are paying for them, right? I'm gonna email them today.Maybe I'm missing something here.Anyway, does anyone know any other site from which we can download free aeronautical charts?Andrew

[Guest Lizardo]

I couldn't possibly agree more. At the very most, they should be at COST only. (lotsa luck with emailing congressmen or AOPA..get politely ignored or buried in BS). HOWEVER...you can see/print USA & Canada and some others for FREE at: http://www.aerochart.com/mapping/chart/smartchart.cfm

[Guest]

I suppose you're talking about IFR charts?for U.S. charts,take a look at http://edj.net/cgi-bin/echoplate.plregards,Seba

[Guest Lizardo]

I think they charge?? Here's a flight planner/router that's so free & easy it's sinful: http://www.landings.com/_landings/pages/se...h_dist_apt.html

[RandallR 446]

Echoplate's online charts are free.

[Guest Lizardo]

(I stand corrected :))

[RandallR 446]

It's easy to get confused - more than one site has access to the charts, but others do charge a fee or at least a membership fee to access them.Echoplate was also offline for a while, so there was a time when it was difficult to find a source for free charts.

[Guest]

Yes, those sites are great - but I'm talking about VFR/IFR sectional charts...Actually I contacted them last week.... they don't have electronic charts!Yes folks, that's right. Our government is creating their aeronautical charts by hand. Somehow I'm just not surprised...