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Figure 4
Jeppesen charts make it far easier to find the depar- ture procedure. ODPs are printed on the airport charts themselves, so you don’t have to go looking for them (see Figure 4). Until the advent of flight planning apps the
majority of my clients’ owner-flown airplanes were flying with Jepp charts. But the ubiquitous ForeFlight and other tablet-based planning ser- vices have shifted most back to the government NOS charts that are included in these apps at no additional cost.
You Have Options
To be sure, flying the ODP is not mandatory un- less it is specifically included in an ATC clearance to deconflict that departure with other aircraft. Section 5-2-9 of the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) states:
ODPs provide obstruction clearance via the least onerous route from the terminal area to the appropri- ate en route structure. ODPs are recommended for ob- struction clearance and may be flown without ATC clearance unless an alternate departure procedure (SID or radar vector) has been specifically assigned by ATC.... Pilots operating under 14CFR Part 91 are strongly encouraged to file and fly a DP at night, during marginal Visual Meteorological Conditions
(VMC) and Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC),
when one is available.
A pilot may choose to depart via some other route. But that choice needs to be deliberate after reading all the
6 • TWIN & TURBINE / December 2021
Turbines