navigation in-flight help

[dreamed2fly]

I m having some trouble navigating while in the air
I went on a solo Nav today and ended up getting lost real bad and had to ask ATS for assistance.

well the first problem started when i had to go through Military Airspace, I asked for clearance no one replied so i just ducked under the ctr steps to remain octa

however coming back in i couldn't duck under the ctr steps to remain octa.
so i planned to divert away from it
and that is when i got lost, Dead Reckoning was all off (i didn't think i was where i thought i was) and
couldn't differentiate the roads and towns from other roads and towns etc
i was actually heading the opposite direction that is when i needed ats guidance.

whenever i am navigating all i depend on is Dead Reckoning atm as i have no clue where is what and what is where as in Australia there are so many featureless terrain legs. (i did not keep a constant speed so my DR was all screwed up)

any tips on visual navigation??

[B737900er]

If you claim to be hopeless at Navigation why did your instructor send you up?

I think you have answered your own question. Dead reckoning requires you to maintain a speed and course and correct when you get to the next way point, or even before that if you know your off course.

Have you been taught any Radio Navigation techniques?

[Genghis the Engineer]

Sounds like you coped fairly well in a difficult situation. Calling for help is an option you should always have up your sleeve

When things go wrong navigationally, above all else, get yourself somewhere known. A town, a known waypoint, anything that is KNOWN.

On the way there, plan a route to where you want to be from that known position. If you're there already, just orbit it in good wide orbits that give you plenty of thinking time.

Then resume your ded-reckoning from there.


In general also use useable landmarks. Let's say you're flying 200 miles from obscure airfield to obscure airfield - the best bet is to fly 5 miles from obscure airfield A to the nearest town/river junction / funny-shaped-hill: something you can't mistake. From there, fly your route to an equivalent that is close to airfield B, so with any luck you're then within a few miles of your eventual destination, and can't miss it.

The odd distinct landmark en-route is great as well, even if that means a small dog-leg, as it allows you to reset your navigation from time to time.

And if you work out the difference in time between the difficult to fly direct route, and the easier to fly dog-legged route with start and end route points, invariably the loss is only a few minutes, so don't worry about it.


Regarding controlled airspace. When I did my commercial training and test I used to plough straight through it, with appropriate clearances and radio calls along the way - because that was what was expected of me. In the real world when I'm using an aeroplane to get from A to B, I've learned over the years that crossing clearance are not always the easiest or most efficient way through. A required dog-leg, or couple of minutes trying to get that crossing clearance can lose all the time the crossing should have gained you, whilst a planned route around / over / under can often be faster in the real world. So, If weather or terrain make over/under unlikely, what I'll probably do is plan "around", but make an option to ask for a crossing clearance and cut the corner of my own route, resuming it at a known waypoint.

[charliegolf]

Make yourself very aware of features beyond your planned turning/check point. Check how long it might take to get to it- then if you miss it and come upon the 'river' or 'railway' past your point, you'll not only know where you are ish, but almost exactly how far past it you are. It's called map study, and not enough people do it in my view.

Similarly, use the map to tell you what you ought to see and when- water tower should be at 3 0'clock at around 9 mins - put a circle around them with the time. Every little helps.

[Aeromar27]

My advice is to never improvise a navigation in-flight unless you're familiar with instant chart-to-terrain and terrain-to-chart translation. During your first navigations, follow a pre-planned route religiously. That will help you get used to the times and distances and will also give you awareness of what distances look like at different altitudes.

Here's a getto tip. Get some icecream sticks. Eat the icecreams (share with loved ones). Prepare each stick for the different ground speeds you normally encounter, like 80, 90, 100, 110, 120kts. Draw time lines on the sticks. For example, a stick on which you draw lines every 5nm (chart scale specific), will give you 3 minute divisions for a GS of 100kts. If with this stick, a feature is 3 segments away from another, then at a GS of 100kts, it'd take you 9 minutes to cover that distance. If it took longer, think wind.

If you get lost, sure, ask for help. I know you might feel it's embarrassing but don't let that stop you from doing it, as using the radio for non-routine communications is also valuable learning.

If you're out of danger, there are no D-R-P zones or restricted aispace around and still want to practice in-flight improvised navigation, it's always good to have a backup for reference. Use a VOR or an NDB. They're not only there for IFR you know. You can even use your phone with a navigation app (Jeppessen Flight Deck VFR is king) or simply google maps to quickly find where you are and then revert back to map reading. Start navigating using big references, like towns or following roads and trains. When you feel comfortable, fly away from roads and towns and use, for example, road crossings. Once you are really comfortable, try navigating using less noticeable features, like churches or obstacles appearing on the charts.

Enjoy that stage, as flight training will get too busy to be fun in no time for you.

[average-punter]

Firstly don’t be ashamed of becoming uncertain of position. At one point I’m sure everyone has experienced it, I became very dis-orientated during a solo navigation flight once and the experience is horrible. I struggled initially with VFR navigation so feel I can offer a bit of advice speaking from my experience and some tips I have picked up. The good thing is admitting to yourself that it has happened and how to put measures in place to prevent it from re-occurring. Genghis offers some sound advice. Nav-aids can be extremely useful, especially in fairly featureless areas where a DME reading can save all sorts of hassle.

Once you’ve finished planning your route and worked out headings, take a minute to think to yourself “does this makes sense?” do the headings look right when compared to the track given the wind? Do the distances look about right, how does the heading look, what is the general orientation of the route? Has variation been applied correctly? Then talk yourself through your route, what do you expect to see and when, pick big key landmarks and then work in towards the smaller features. This will greatly enhance your situational awareness during flight and will enable you to quickly establish if you’re off track or not rather than attempting to map read whilst flying.


Your primary task is to fly the aircraft, everything else, checks etc... comes second. Fly your heading religiously, if you deviate from your planned altitude return to it immediately, this will instil good habits for more advanced training.

Whilst airborne trust your planning implicitly. Complete an ‘idiot check’ once you’re established on track. This encompasses questions such as:

Does the terrain shape the way it’s meant to on the map?
Do the large features on the map correspond with what appears on the ground?

You’ll find a way to do this that works well with you, I tend to check the timer, then look at my map to see where I should be then look outside to establish if I’m on track or not. Remember that this is not all one process; it’s to be combined with flying the aircraft and looking out.
Proper and through planning on the ground will pay dividends when airborne. You say that you had planned to go through some controlled airspace? Whilst planning your route on the ground you should have come up with a contingency plan if, for whatever reason, you couldn’t get a clearance through the airspace. This would involve legs drawn on the map and features identified to help you re-establish track after your diversion. I found 10NM marks on my checklist to be exceedingly helpful with planning last minute diversions.

Diversions by nature are last minute and the workload can become difficult to manage. Remember that all you need to get going is a heading. Once you’ve established on that heading start the timer, then think about distances, ETAs, MSAs etc... If you’re flying analogue gauges do a routine check of your compass and DI alignment. Don’t be afraid to scribble all over your map, I find a thin pen works best as this won’t obscure important information, write on when you plan to do events before you take-off.

[ChickenHouse]

A couple of things.

First, there is nothing wrong on getting lost. We all had this happening and calling for help is exactly the right decision. You also should get into the standard good airmenship track and discuss the how and why with your instructor.

Second, ask you instructor to give you the CVFR training part quite soon, so you are enabled to get your position by "conventional" NAV equipment - at least cross bearing, maybe even doubling the angle of the bow.

Third, try to get more training on dead reckoning, as this usually needs training, training and training.

Forth, if DR fails and you don't want to call for help yet, circle 2 min standard turns and look outside to get a feeling where you are. Stay at a given point by this and look around is far easier then trying to dead reckon in linear motion.

At first it is quite surprising how looong it takes to really recognize where you are by just looking at landmarks! For later - do this with some frequency, just clear your mind from knowledge of the electronic gadgetry and try to identify by looking outside to stay trained for this important skill !!! You will forget, but when you remember, train.

[Diesel Pilot]

dreamed2fly

You're not in Perth by any chance are you? If so I would happily give you some tips in person or even a brief. Shoot me a PM if this is the case.

It sounds to me like you weren't prepared enough and then panicked in flight when things didn't work out. This is what happens to a lot of people, me included in my early navs.

I can't really write out everything you need to know about navigating here, but the most important points are thorough pre-flight planning including accurately studying the planned route and selecting prominent features along or abeam each track to use as a navigational reference (almost no one does this) and monitoring the two most important navigational instruments in flight: the compass and your watch.

Above all else keep your cool if things don't work out as planned, getting agitated won't help you in finding a solution.

Good luck mate.