The ‘Little Black Book’ was how Jeppesen’s notebook became known and word got out so quickly, other pilots also started wanting to collaborate with him, adding information from new airports and navigation routes.
It wasn’t long before Jeppesen was making his first charts for friends but as it was such a good idea and in such demand, in 1934, Elrey created Jeppesen & Co, based in Salt Lake City, and started selling the copies at 10 dollars.
During World War II, Jeppesen became the firm in charge of providing the North American Army with navigation charts, making his enterprise grow exponentially.
In 1973, Jeppesen integrated his database in the first commercial flights and in the 90s, they brought out a CD-ROM containing the information of all the airports.
From then on, the company hasn’t stopped growing, incorporating GPS technology and the elaboration of instrument approach charts.
Presently, Jeppesen, the firm that started out with a simple notebook, provides both commercial and general aviation pilots with powerful air navigation applications.