Pilotage and Ded. Reckoning

How to Navigate Cross-Country Using a Chart and Your Window

Pilotage• Navigating by using landmarks you can see and comparing them with your

chart is called pilotage. This is the most basic form of navigation, but the hardest for some people to actually do. Never try to compare your chart to the ground, only compare the ground to the chart. This way, you can match a large landmark on the ground to a small area on the chart (even when you’re lost). This skill becomes useful when your instruments break.

INOP.

Pros

• Advantages:-Easy, reliable way to plan-Landmarks will ALWAYS be there (no maintenance like other nav aids)-Can see many from a great distance-Some are known by name to ATC (Squaw Peak, The “Gap,” Lake Pleasant,

The “Canal and Freeway,” ect…)

Cons

• Must maintain a low altitude• May run into bad weather• Landmarks may look alike• Occasionally a zig-zag course

must be flown.• Warm air and wind near the

surface usually means turbulence, particularly through mountains.

Ded. Reckoning

• Navigating by calculating the aircraft’s speed, time from the previous landmark or waypoint, and correcting for winds aloft is deduced reckoning. It can be used in conjunction with pilotage to determine an aircraft’s position between two points.

INOP.

Planned leg time: 15 minGround Speed: 80 ktsLeg total: 20 nm

Flight time: 5 minTime remaining: 10 min This should be easy

Cross-Country Planning• Check A/FD and chart effective dates.• Select destination (and get airport info.)• Select route (straight line is best if possible)• Pick points along the line• Measure distances and note mileage• Select altitude (allow lots of room)• Define navaid reference points (i.e. VOR radials with

DME, triangulation, VOR rdaials and NDB radials, ect…)

• Calculate estimated en-route time, fuel burn, and endurance (exclude unusable fuel).

• Ensure it falls below the required fuel reserve at normal cruise fuel consumption. (AT LEAST: 30 min Day VFR, 45 min Night VFR ...FAR 91.151)

• Get airport frequencies, runway dimensions, and runway headings

• Get the current/forecasted weather (TAF, METAR, FA, Weather Warnings, FD, Sigmets, Convective Sigmets, Airmets, ect…)

• Get all applicable NOTAMS and TFR’s.

Airspace Review

Filing a Flight Plan

1-800-WX-BRIEF -or- 1-800-992-7433

X

N4364T PA-28-161/A 115 KIWA 0000Z 8500

KPRC - KIGM

KLASLas Vegas, McCarran

2 hours 55 min. NONE

4 00 NONE

Private Student, 602-123-4567, KIWA1

Blue on WhiteRENO

Takeoff – Airspace Avoidance

PLANNED

ACTUAL

In Flight

• First, above all else, FLY THE AIRPLANE! (it seems simple but you can be easily distracted)

• Second, pay attention to your heading and reference points (correct for precession and wind drift).

• Third, monitor the engine and fuel gauges. If anything is wrong and you start to panic…refer to step one, analyze the situation, and call for help if necessary.

Arrival

Use the A/FD and chartsto determine the correctfrequencies and pattern entry procedures for the destination airport if youhaven’t already (this should have been doneduring the planning phase).

Don’t plan a route using unusable fuel too!

Planned/Expected Route

ATC

Instruction

“Report 3 Mile Final,Runway 27”Wind

•Land•Tie Down

Finally

Any Questions?