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SimPlates is available for PC, Mac, iPhone™ and iPad™ and Android.

	What are IFR plates?
	IFR plates are basically little charts that real-world pilots reference while flying. They are not en-route charts, which are the larger sort of charts roughly analogous to large-area road maps for automobiles. Rather, IFR plates are basically guides to some of the most critical phases of flight, such as taxi, departure, arrival, and (especially) approach to landing. When most people think of IFR plates, they think of approach plates, which contain the series of steps and navigation and communication frequencies that a pilot must reference when flying an instrument (or visual) approach to an airport. For example, when flying on an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to a runway at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York or Hong Kong or Heathrow or Schiphol, you need to know what the proper ILS frequency is, what the missed approach procedure is, and what the critical altitudes are for all phases of the approach. Flying an approach properly is hard - in the beginning you may be overwhelmed. But learning to do this is a great way to raise your simming enjoyment and professionalism to a really high level. And, of course, you need approach plates to be able to do this properly. There are other plate types in SimPlates, including SIDs/STARs (Standard Instrument Departures / Standard Terminal Arrivals) and Airport Diagrams.
	But IFR approach plates are available on the web, free!
	Yes, some are. However, you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere near the breadth and depth of coverage that Simplates includes. Check out the see complete list of included airports to get an idea. With SimPlates, you're generally only a few moments away from accessing out any plate that you want, and there are many thousands of plates also that are simply not available on the web at all. Simplates is unique in that it contains plates not just for the USA, but for dozens of other countries as well.
	Are these the same as Jeppesen™ plates?
	Jeppesen is a private company that makes many worldwide approach plates. Some pilots use Jeppesen plates, some don't. The plates included in SimPlates are NOT Jeppesen plates, but are mostly government-issued plates that have fundamentally the exact same data on them. Again, the plates included with SimPlates are generally real-world plates. SimPlates has a much wider coverage area than the (at the time of this writing) very outdated Jeppesen simulator plates product.
	How does SimPlates compare to another company that I saw online that offers online approach plates for flight simulator users?
	SimPlates costs much less, has far greater plate coverage, does NOT require you to purchase a recurring subscription as they do, and has a superior (faster/easier) user interface. Additionally, SimPlates is available natively for mobile platforms. In short, we think we provide a better product and far better value than they do in every way imaginable.
	How does SimPlates integrate into my copy of Flight Simulator?
	It doesn't. Well, not directly. SimPlates is a standalone Windows / Mac / iPhone and iPad / Android program/app. You launch the standalone program/app, and use it to find exactly the plate you want. From there, you can either print out the plate (PC versions) or view it onscreen (PC and mobile versions). As such, SimPlates is compatible with, but does not directly integrate to, every PC flight simulator that features reasonably true-to-life NAVAIDs and approach systems. For most people, this means Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) X, 2004, 2002, 2000, 98, etc. However, it also includes sims such as X-Plane, Flight Gear, Elite, ASA On-Top, and even some oldies but goodies like Flight Unlimited and Sierra Pro Pilot (ok we admit it - we just mentioned those last two to give your nostalgia sensors a nudge).
	Print? Why not just display them on screen?
	Well, you can if that works for you. This is especially true if you have a mobile or tablet version, as more and more real-world pilots are using tablets to view approach plates.
	I'm new to the world of approach plates and the like. Where can I find out more?
	Learning to fly by Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) is a long but rewarding process that takes most real-world pilots many months of intensive study. It's beyond the scope of SimPlates to teach you this. However, there are some resources on the web at the level of serious-enthusiast pilots that may help: Online Flight Simulator Handbook Flight Simulator Navigation Tutorial If you're a real-world pilot, you might find some usefulness in our GroundSchool FAA written test prep software for IFR, RideReady FAA Oral Exam Prep software for IFR, our CanadaPilot INSRAT training software, or our GroundSchool UK IMC Test prep. Additionally, we are now working on a soup-to-nuts IFR tutorial program for IFR, though that is not yet complete.
	I'm a pilot. Can I use SimPlates IFR approach charts for my real world flights?
	DO NOT USE SIMPLATES FOR REAL WORLD FLIGHT OR FLIGHT PLANNING. Why? While SimPlates are actual IFR charts, they are often out of date. This is just fine (brilliant, actually) for simulator use (I'd reckon that 99.97%+ of SimPlates are perfectly flyable on, for example, MSFS 2004 or X), but NOT for real-world flight, as flying real-world IFR by rule generally requires up-to-date charts, by regulation. Unfortunately, real-world always-up-to-date plates are very expensive. At the time of this writing, coverage for something like what simplates provides runs in the area of $1200 per 6 months. SimPlates is much, much less expensive!
	What are the sources of the charts? What about quality?
	The sources of the charts vary as does the quality. For the USA, the standard NIMA/NACO charts that most pilots fly IFR with are included. Additionally, there are a hundreds if not thousands of DOD/FLIP charts published by US military agencies for both the US itself and many foreign countries and territories. Additional foreign plate coverage has come through equivalent non-US aviation authorities, and we thank many of them for their help in this. In a relatively small (less than 1%) number of cases, there may be a few hand-drawn or "enthusiast drawn" plates in there from various sources that are not 'official.' Quality of the chart various according to several factors. Some charts, such as notably the FAA ones and a few others (France, elsewhere in Western Europe, etc) are beautiful crisp vector PDFs - little works of art in their own right. Other charts are the result of physically scanning paper charts, and the resulting quality there varies from plate to plate. As a rough guess, we'd say that 95% of the current generation charts in SimPlates are nice crisp PDF vector charts, and about 5% are scanned graphics. Of the scanned graphics ones, most are decent, but for some hard-to-find-data-for-locations, such as ex-USSR states and Africa, the quality of the data tends to be lower.
	What is the price in my local currency?
	The prices on our ourder screen are listed in US dollars. As you go through the order process, you will see in a later screen the price displayed in your local currency. Orders are handled for us by SWreg/Digital River, our e-commerce partner who have been absolutely great at providing a reliable and secure e-commerce gateway for us.
	Can I order by Phone, Check/Cheque, PayPal, shiny glass beads, etc?
	Except maybe for the beads, the answer is generally yes. The SWreg/Digital River order system allows for a large number of ways to order. To order, for example, by phone, just start the order process online. Then, when you get to the payment stage, it will ask you about payment method - here you will see the full list of choices.

"... you have supplied an excellent, thoroughly researched, and well put together product--Thank you!" - JM, SimPlates Pilot back to top