When it comes to pilot training materials, IFR approach plates, or even logbooks, the name Jeppesen is a common one. The Jeppesen company produces a version of just about everything a pilot could need. And it all started with a little notebook, a basement, and an airmail pilot—Elrey Jeppesen.
Born in 1907 in Louisiana to Danish immigrant parents, Jeppesen became interested in aviation from a young age, watching birds fly and building models. At 14, he paid a barnstormer $4 for a 10-minute ride.
Apparently, he enjoyed himself. After completing only two and a half years of school, Jeppesen dropped out of school and landed a job at the local airport doing odd jobs like organizing tools and sweeping out the hangar.
It was while working there that Jeppesen first hooked up with Tex Rankin’s Flying Circus. In his time off, he would spend hours listening to the pilots talk. It was in this way that Jeppesen, while an abysmal student in high school, learned the intricacies of flight.
At 18, after a mere 2 hours and 10 minutes of flying lessons, Jeppesen soloed. He soon bought a Curtiss Jenny to barnstorm in.
In 1928 Jeppesen was working for Fairchild Aerial Surveys, flying photographers in a DH-4, and 1930 saw him hired to fly for Boeing Air Transport (BAT). It was during his time with BAT that Jeppesen came to fully realize the danger of flying. There were no sectional maps, no low or high IFR routes, and no instrument approach plates. At best, pilots had the Rand-McNally Road Atlas—and it was woefully inadequate.
Jeppesen purchased a little black notebook for 10 cents and began filling it with aviation information. He would jot down runway headings, hill elevations, and even phone numbers for farmers willing to provide weather updates. It’s even said that he would climb uncharted mountains with multiple altimeters to record accurate elevation information.
It wasn’t much by today’s standards, but it was something. Soon other pilots began to hear about this little black book and would come to Jeppesen for a copy. Thus, the Jeppesen company was born. He began selling copies of what he now called the Jeppesen Airway Manual from his basement at $10 apiece.
While his airway manuals were incredibly popular—and many airlines still use a modernized version—Jeppesen wasn’t willing to give up flying just yet. His wife, Nadine, a former flight attendant, helped him run his company while he flew for United Airlines.
Together they provided the U.S. Army Air Corps and the Navy with Jeppesen charts throughout World War II. The charting business continued to thrive postwar, and Jeppesen would retire from United in 1954 to give all his attention to the Jeppesen company.
Jeppesen sold his company in 1961 but retained the chairman position. In a full-circle moment, Boeing would later acquire the Jeppesen company. It seemed fitting, considering Jeppesen’s time with the Boeing Air Transport was what inspired the little black notebook that started it all.
Jeppesen died in 1996 at the age of 89.
His charts made the world of aviation infinitely safer, undoubtedly saving thousands of lives. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Museum of Flight in Seattle has his collection in its archives. Denver International Airport (KDIA) features a statue of Jeppesen in its terminal.
But most importantly his legacy lives on through the Jeppesen company, and most airlines continue to use a modernized version of the Jeppesen Airway Manual.
