AIM 

3/21/24 

8.  FAA Aeronautical Chart User’s Guide. 

A booklet designed to be used as a teaching aid and reference 

document. It describes the substantial amount of information provided on FAA’s aeronautical charts and 

publications. It includes explanations and illustrations of chart terms and symbols organized by chart type. The 

users guide is available for free download at the AIS website. 

e.  Digital Products. 

1.  The Digital Aeronautical Information CD (DAICD). 

The DAICD is a combination of the NAVAID 

Digital Data File, the Digital Chart Supplement, and the Digital Obstacle File on one Compact Disk. These three 

digital products are no longer sold separately. The files are updated every 56 days and are available by 

subscription only. 

(a)  The NAVAID Digital Data File. 

This file contains a current listing of NAVAIDs that are compatible 

with the National Airspace System. This file contains all NAVAIDs including ILS and its components, in the 

U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands plus bordering facilities in Canada, Mexico, and the Atlantic and Pacific 

areas. 

(b)  The Digital Obstacle File. 

This file describes all obstacles of interest to aviation users in the U.S., 

with limited coverage of the Pacific, Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico. The obstacles are assigned unique 

numerical identifiers, accuracy codes, and listed in order of ascending latitude within each state or area. 

2.  The Coded Instrument Flight Procedures (CIFP) (ARINC 424 [Ver 13 & 15]). 

The CIFP is a basic 

digital dataset, modeled to an international standard, which can be used as a basis to support GPS navigation. 

Initial data elements included are: Airport and Helicopter Records, VHF and NDB Navigation aids, en route 

waypoints and airways. Additional data elements will be added in subsequent releases to include: departure 

procedures, standard terminal arrivals, and GPS/RNAV instrument approach procedures. The database is 

updated every 28 days. The data is available by subscription only and is distributed on CD

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ROM or by ftp 

download. 

3.  digital

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Visual Charts (d

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VC).

 These digital VFR charts are geo

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referenced images of FAA Sectional 

Aeronautical, TAC, and Helicopter Route charts. Additional digital data may easily be overlaid on the raster 

image using commonly available Geographic Information System software. Data such as weather, temporary 

flight restrictions, obstacles, or other geospatial data can be combined with d

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VC data to support a variety of 

needs. The file resolution is 300 dots per inch and the data is 8

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bit color. The data is provided as a GeoTIFF and 

distributed on DVD

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R media and on the AIS website. The root mean square error of the transformation will not 

exceed two pixels. Digital

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VCs are updated every 56 days and are available by subscription only. 

Types of Charts Available 

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1

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