[MilCom] Re: US IFR Supplement Research Methods

[wymanent at bellsouth.net]

Coincidentally to Ken's post (on MilCom), I was just sent an e-mail
regarding this same subject in terms of how all the data will be removed
from our access and what data is still available. I compiled the following
list as a response to the original e-mail I received. Please disregard if
you are already familiar with these documents and resources.

>>>

https://164.214.2.62/products/digitalaero/index.cfm

Scroll down to Planning and Enroute Supplements.

* I personally download the IFR Supplement, VFR Supplement, the Carribbean
Supplement, and AP1 / AP1-A / AP1-B whenever they are updated.

* The GP General Planning document is good to have, as Chapter 9 has a
variety of callsigns of use to monitors.

* The FIH Flight Information Handbook is also a good resource for emergency
freqs and proper usage, some Command Post freqs, plus some interesting
US-Russia coordination freqs that probably date from the Cold War!

Scroll down some more and you'll see the Charts section.

* I download the AP1-B Military Training Routes Charts as these include the
air-routes and fixes mentioned by name/number on the radio. These charts
also illustrate the Warning Areas, Ranges, and Refueling Tracks that most of
us hear daily. The companion AP1-B document, mentioned above, provides freqs
for the Routes and Refueling Tracks depicted on the charts.

Finally, scroll down the Terminal Instrument Procedures section.

* Here you can download  a ZIP file of the entire US (see Miltitary Terminal
Instrument Procedures Zipped link) or, after scrolling down a little more,
select the United States link and then select airports of interest to you by
name from the alphabetical list.

These documents have been outstanding resources for years, and the advent of
PDF files to replace the old paper volumes added the ability to search by
frequency, word, location or anything else. For example, to rapidly find
published freqs in a large document such as the FIH, just search for "MHz"
and you'll be able to jump to all pages with frequencies.

We will all certainly miss this ability once the documents are removed from
the public record. It is my hope that a US-only version will eventually be
published to maintain public accessibility while excluding the foreign data
that is subject to the Copyright claims.

Robert Wyman