wrote:

I could not agree more. It's a totally new ongoing expense. It used to
be that pilots were responsible for their own nav data (ie, charts and
plates) and now the club is going to be responsible for it. Just a bit
more squeeze, especially considering that the pilots are still going to
have to have current charts/plates.

It would be better if there were some other suppliers who could provide
database updates -- giving a little competition. I think that some of
the smaller handheld GPS companies don't use Jepp data, but take the
gov't data and reformat it themselves and provide it for their
customers.

Does Jepp have some kind of exclusive contract with the gov't?

No, they have a monopoly by default. No one else wants to assume the
highly technical procedures and liability risks that Jeppesen assumes by
massaging, formatting, and often correcting errors in the government
source.

There are other database vendors elsewhere in the world but they aren't
interested in the U.S. general aviation market, especially since most of
their data are for places other then the U.S.

And, this is all going to tighten up even more with the advent of RNP
terminal instrument procedures and their absolute intolerance for any
database errors. Both database compliation organizations (such as
Jeppesen) and avionic vendors that want to participate in the RNP game will
have to be certified by the FAA and issued a letter of authorization
(LOA). These are two different types of LOAs, one for the complilation
entity and another for the avionics vendor. Thus far, Jeppesen and
Honeywell have their LOAs to supply advanced-procedure databases.

And, although this will not immediately affect IFR panel mount avionics
vendors, it is coming because there will be RNP procedures for panel mounts
within a couple or three years.