If ever there were a product designed to induce buyer’s remorse, it’s aeronautical charts. Despite the advent of data-hungry GPS navigators, most of us spend ever more for navigation data and use ever less of it. Digital charting hasn’t helped, other than to incorporate specific charts into the flight planning process.

Lookit, all we want are inexpensive charts and as few of them as possible. We used our recent short trip into Canada as a test case for examining that most irritating of chart requirements, the trip kit. Like everyone else, we often put chart buying off to the last minute then end up paying a premium because we don’t have…