For a start, accept & expect that you
will get off track. The trick is to recognise it & be able to correct.
Somethings you can do to minimise the problem:
1. Use funnel features to 'lead you in' to the destination.
2. If funnel features aren't available (or allowed in the test
) think about how you can use line features.
a. Is there one that crosses track for G/S checks?
b. Or parallels track for drift checks?
c. Running through the destination? If so, perhaps a deliberate off track error is appropriate ie ensure you track enough to one side or another to arrive definitely off-side. You'll at least know which way to turn. The possibility otherwise is for there to be some doubt about which way to turn.
3. Sometimes it's just as important to know what will tell you you're NOT where you wish to be, as it is to know what features show you that your destination. These could be lfeatures to the left or right of TR, or beyond that would show you've gone too far eg line features , significant terrain, towns, lakes etc etc etc.
4. Definitely use Clock to map to ground. Orient the chart to suit your HDG. Remember that you could be a bit left or right of track so don't presume an object to one side of track on the chart may not be to the same side of the nose.
5. Large BIG, BIG objects before trying to locate less obvious things eg. The coastline is a great feature to start with if visible...
6. If going to somewhere that might be awkward to find eg only a small feature then plan to track to a more easily found feature nearby THEN to the final destination. You might use clock & compass as usual OR even track crawl using minor features. Tr. crawling is handy to find a particular river bend/road junction/stock fence etc AS LONG AS you start from a known position and have reasonable features to follow. You must still use TIME to check for the reasonableness of progress. It's very easy to miscount creek junctions etc...
7. Hold headings accurately. Even if the DI. doesn't match the compass, the constant error will allow a good 1:60 to correct your track.
Similarly to Gaunty, I use Tr. as Hdg. If I *know* that there is a significant crosswind then I'll use 5 or 10 deg as a guesstimate. Doesn't really matter since I'll be doing a 1:60 anyway.
I look for a fix ASAP at or near TOPC then base my TMG on that.
Drift during climb is usually different to CRZ so I treat my TOPC fix as the start of my en-route tracking. If off track at that point I base my 1:60 on the now offset parallel. No good using departure point since speed (& therefore drift) is different between climb & crz.
Sometimes I do a 1:60 half way through the climb instead. Depends on how much I feel like working & how much drift has been obvious.
Nothing wrong with doing multiple 1:60s along a track, not just one at the mid-point.
8. Use a search pattern if the place just can't be found. Make sure you log the time & start point though! It takes a long time to do if you're a fair way from the target.
9. If you're having trouble seeing how the depictions on the WAC relate to the ground features, try holding the chart at arms length or so. The shading will help you see what's a valley or ridge.
10. Don't underestimate the use of cross bearings to get a Line of Position. A couple of crossing LoPs will give you a fix. Some ways to get a LOP:
a. As you fly between two recognisable points they'll give a LoP when you're between them. eg a couple of towns or lakes or mountains etc in some combination. Draw a line on your chart between those points & you're somewhere on that line. If you can estimate distance from one of the features then you have a fix.
b. If not between two points then two that line up away from from eg a lake + a mountain. Again draw
c. A line feature as mentioned earlier. Perhaps you can see a straight road or railway in the distance that will or does point at you before it bends. Extend a line on your chart from the straight section to make a LoP.
d. Navaids: DME, VOR, NDB. Don't forget the DME will be a curved LoP centred on the DME transmitter.
Hope this helps...
Best of luck!