Glossary of Aviation Terms | Class II Navigation

Class II Navigation | Paramount Business Jets

This method of navigation includes dead reckoning and radio navigation. The advancements in navigational radio receivers installed in aircraft, and the development of aeronautical charts which show the exact location of ground transmitting stations and their frequencies, along with flight deck instrumentation, make it possible for pilots to navigate with precision to almost any point. Although precision in navigation is obtainable through the proper use of this equipment, beginning pilots should use this equipment to supplement navigation by visual reference to the ground (pilotage). This method provides the pilot with an effective safeguard against disorientation in the event of radio malfunction. There are four radio navigation systems available for use for VFR navigation. These are VHF Omni-Directional Range (VOR), nondirectional radio beacon (NDB), Long Range Navigation (Loran-C), and Global Positioning System (GPS). Dead reckoning is navigation solely by means of computations based on time, airspeed, distance, and direction. The products derived from these variables when adjusted by wind speed and velocity are heading and GS. The predicted heading takes the aircraft along the intended path and the GS establishes the time to arrive at each checkpoint and destination.