Proline 21 Lufthansa database vs. Jeppesen

[thatpilotguy]

I am looking for information/input regarding the Lufthansa Rockwell Collins FMS database. Does anyone here have experience using this product. I know that when it was first released there where some "quirks." I am looking for specific examples of likes/dislikes.

If you have had experience with this database in a Challenger 300, or using this data base in the Proline cockpit with IFIS, I would really like to hear what you think.

 

[Flyin Chicken]

More PL21 questions ehh... We used the lufthansa database for awhile, but the biggest issue was the IFIS system not being able to recognize airports loaded in a flightplan without a ICAO code. Example KJFK versus 4A7. The lufthanasa load would require you to put K4A7 as the airport identifier. The charts would not function properly, because there is no such airport as K4A7 in the chart database. Graphical weather also had the issue. Thus, we went back to jeppesen for nav db's.

 

[thatpilotguy]

Thanks for the reply flyin chicken...I'm a little confused with your response...I have not heard that the Lufthansa database used different airport identifiers. Can you clarify this a bit more. Did you run into this issue on a corporate aircraft or airline aircraft. Feel free to PM me, I'd like to talk with you offline if your willing/available. Thanks again for your response!

 

[ultrarunner]

Thatpilotguy, I think what Flyin Chicken meant was that the Lufthansa database might ONLY use ICAO idents...meaning that 4A7 down there in redneck-ville Georgia, might not necessarily be in the Kraut's database.

 

[ttflyer]

Thanks for the reply flyin chicken...I'm a little confused with your response...I have not heard that the Lufthansa database used different airport identifiers. Can you clarify this a bit more. Did you run into this issue on a corporate aircraft or airline aircraft. Feel free to PM me, I'd like to talk with you offline if your willing/available. Thanks again for your response!

We briefly tried Lufthansa and were not impressed. The airport identifiers were of course the same but other fixes were not. For example instead of naming the FAF on an ILS, Lufthansa would only list it's ID (For KBHM ILS 6, it would say the FAF was BH, not "MCDEN"). Also, when flying an arrival, if there was a heading (i.e. "depart OLIVV heading 355 degrees") that turn would not be there (even after you assigned a runway) so the airplane would not make the turn if you were flying the arrival in "NAV" mode.

I've also heard some intersections were missing although we never saw that. For us, the risk of making an error due to the differences with the jeppessen was too high so we switched back. I'm sure you would get used to it if you had to...