Gidday TB,
I will tell you the biggest mistake most of my ab-init class (including me) made, we made too big a deal of it all. Don't mis-read me, you need to know where you are, but you don't need to know the very speck of dirt under you compared to your map.
Remember, you are generally flying to strips and bigger airports, they are larger objects to find rather than trees and hills. As HA pointed out, big features first. Mountains and stuff dont move.
OpsNormal hit on a very important point. Good basic flying skills make navigating easier. If you can master holding a solid heading and having the aircraft well trimmed, accurate nav is easier.
I am going over covered ground here a little, so I will throw in my 2 bob.
My testing officer said to me after my flight test these two things.
Rule A : HEADING - GROUNDSPEED - TIME.
If you have been flying (HEADING) at (GROUNDSPEED) for (TIME).
There is NO where else you can be.
All encompassed in reading WATCH TO MAP TO GROUND. Use your 1-in-60 if you a little either side of track. Holding yor heading right will make your 1-in-60's smaller calc's.
Rule B : LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE.
you are high up, you can see a long way. look at the big things. get a general idea of where you are on your map, then find something specific for a positive fix. Use your positive fixes for GS checks. Refer Rule A.
keep it efficient, keep it simple.
Oh, and on your map, draw a line from point A to point B, and go to work.
