I have been involved w/ this hobby for a few years and have learned a ton.  I've found some great resources that help you to learn how things work - I've focused primarily on the PMDG737NGX.  I've signed up for Angle of Attack's training and found it to be a good resource - I've also found that there are times when it is 'assumed' that you know something.  That being said, in order to really plan a flight you must have a working knowledge of how charts work...I've spent time trying to find a good resource for an A to Z guide on charts, but haven't been able to find one.

 

Does anyone out there have any suggestions?  Much appreciated.

Well... I have never used a guide for charts as they seem to speak by themself - but I am also not using them fully and not always. Maybe it would be better if you ask questions here and let specialists on this matter reply - for example post a chart and ask what you don't understand about it

You can also start here http://ww1.jeppesen.com/documents/aviation/business/ifr-paper-services/glossary-legends.pdf

What fueled my question was that I have been working on inputting a flight plan from A to B - using the CDU on the 737 you pick your departure runway and then you are given a handful of Waypoints associated with that runway.  My initial question is how do you know which to pick?  It could be as simple as looking at the flight plan (I use PFPX) and choosing the one that is associated w/ it on the chart - which I started doing - but then I realized that there are several (what I think are) SIDS between the waypoints and I started getting confused.  

 

Again, Angle of Attack is very good, but there is an assumption that you have a pretty good working knowledge of charts upfront....the moderator tells you which to pick, but I was trying to understand 'why' he picked the one he did.  Same w/ landings - I've tried programming a few different arrivals and have somehow ended being routed to some pretty strange places.  

 

 

You can also start here http://ww1.jeppesen....ary-legends.pdf

 

This is great and now I have some reading to do.....thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEwvDVM-k54

 

A good 30 minute rundown by an avsim member with some real world knowledge.

 

In general he's done a lot of really helpful videos specifically targeted at the sim community and VATSIM.

 

I know more than you do about this stuff and I learned more than a few things from that video.

Also found these:

 

http://flighttraining.aopa.org/pdfs/Intro_to_VFR_Chart_Symbols.pdf

 

http://aeronav.faa.gov/content/aeronav/online/pdf_files/Chart_Users_Guide_12thEd.pdf

 

 

good 30 minute rundown by an avsim member with some real world knowledge.
 
In general he's done a lot of really helpful videos specifically targeted at the sim community and VATSIM.
 
I know more than you do about this stuff and I learned more than a few things from that video.

 

Thank you - I always find it easier to watch a tutorial - it's just that sometimes it's hard to know what is accurate or not - especially when you don't know a lot about the subject.