AIM issues

[North Shore]

Well, in retrospect, I am a huge fan of the old AIP format - you could pull it off the bookshelf to look something up, take it to bed with you for a bit of studying, place it on the desktop for handy reference, etc... The updates came quarterly, which, if you were responsible about entering them, got you in the book at least once every few months, and abreast of changes.. Replaced by the AIM - as long as you could get a print issue - which should be covered by a non-cheapskate employer - same deal.

But now... NO PAPER COPIES any more?! WTF? So if I'm studying for my ride, then every time I have a question, it's over to the computer, and scroll around until I find what I am looking for, as long as no-one else has been at the machine and changed the page on me. Or, I can print out all 400 -odd pages, and binder them, but have to throw it out every 6 months when the new issue comes out, as there are no update-only packages.

I can understand the cost-cutting drive behind going to online only - and that's fair enough. (Although I wonder why we are not seeing any corresponding reductions in the medical fees that we are paying - ostensibly for the AIM information...) However, from my point of view, I don"t feel that this move (going paperless) is very well-thought out. Particularly since I don't find myself going through the AIM nearly as often as I did the AIP, simply because it's not, to my mind, as user-friendly - even more so, now that it is online only..

I"d really like to be able to make an AIP-style document out of the AIM, by printing the whole thing off, and putting it in a binder, and then being able to download an update package every 6 months to replace the outdated parts...

Am I alone in wanting to do it that way? Thoughts, comments? (No sentences containing 'Luddite' will be read!)

Edited now to include a poll.

[CD]

Not sure if it will help (ok, it's unlikely) but you could also write in to make your view known:

Civil Aviation Issues Reporting System (CAIRS)

I, too, miss the AIP (although I didn't know anyone else personally who actually kept up with the amendments).

[North Shore]

Thanks, CD. This post stems from an email exchange with the publishers of the AIM, who suggested the CAIRS link also - I was just trying to see if I was coming from left field on this, or if there were others who had similar thoughts..

[ditar]

I wholeheartedly agree. The AIP saw a lot more light of day than does the AIM.

[Prairie Chicken]

I feel the same as you do North Shore, and CD, I'll 'fess up to being one of those odd creatures that reviewed and entered the AIP amendments as they came out. I know one other who did the same thing (on long legs), so there must be at least three of us out there.

[Changes in Latitudes]

I used to have a problem with AIM but then I got engaged, now everytime I miss the toilet the fiance makes me clean it up.

Now my AIM is better.



But seriously, I liked the AIM better. Forced you to read it every so often.

[Red Line]

Attended a TC safety seminar this month. At the end of the presentation we approached the fellow from Transport and asked him why the AIM was no longer available in print. The answer: "The decision to go 100% paperless was industry-driven." Apparently "us", the end-users, were harping Transport not send us the paperback books biannually. Hmmm, I thought, probably as good of an answer as we're ever going to get!

[Cat Driver]

I know one other who did the same thing (on long legs), so there must be at least three of us out there.

Make it four.

[Liftdump]

100% agreed Mr. Northshore

[pilotman15]

Completely agree. Never really kept the AIP up to-date but never really had a problem with the paperback AIM. Absolutely hate the Online version. Can't really spend more than 15-20 minutes reading on-line before the eyes have had enough. Don't really think I know of anyone who prefers a paperless copy vs. a copy that can be brought anywhere with you. Surprised TC is actually getting rid of a money-grab. Not to say that the paperback version is at all a waste.

[Tim]

i LOVE the online AIM! google and ctl+f make life easy

the paper was a pain in the ass...but i did keep it up to date

[Nark]

Why not have a motivated distributor publish the AIM like they do down here in the US?

It's revised annually, in addition many publish the FAR's in conjunction with the AIM pertinent to your type of flying.

I left Canada before the AIM circulated, but I too used employee my down time updating the AIP.

[North Shore]

Hmmm, looks like we are 10 to 1 for the paper copy... time for that CAIRS memo...

[Janszoon]

You can add me to the list of those who kept the AIP up-to-date.

[iflyforpie]

Add me too. It was an educational experience every time.

[avcanada]

prefer the paper copy also

[freakonature]

Paper! Were the first aip's leather bound?

[tdawe]

I miss the AIP, every time anything got revised it was easy to see ALL of the changes, and what the new version was versus old reason. It took what, 5-10 min every few months.?

I always wondered why CFS's and even CAPs couldnt be in that format as well (albeit maybe in a smaller binder) I figured it would save overall on the amount of paper used vs the current 56 day cycle program. Maybe then I would almost feel like my 55$ a year was going towards something.....

[tiny]

I still remember (not really that long ago) my first AIP subscription while in PPL grd school. Learned alot from the updates, and yes I did keep it up to date.

[beaverbob]

I remember befor AIP when the Canada Air Pilot had the VFR section in the back in the same format as the approach plates.
Bob

[Tim]

i guess im the only one!

[CD]

Oh, you're likely not the only one Tim. I prefer the e-version when I want to look something up or when doing research. Thing is, I actually read the paper AIP amendments as I was inserting them. So, while it is quick and easy to see what has changed in the TC AIM, I find that I rarely actually review those changes when they are published.

So for me, it's good and bad.

[yfly]

Paper. At least I read it when doing ammendments. Now it is a bookmark I manage to bypass.

[PAJ]

I like the ease of the online version when searching for something quickly but I like the paper version when settling in to read something.

Why not have a motivated distributor publish the AIM like they do down here in the US?

I heard a rumor the other day that VIP Pilot Centre in Montreal will be doing just that. They already do it for the CARs.