General navigation in aviation involves the process of determining and maintaining the aircraft’s position, course, and altitude during a flight. In this subject we would learn about the methods, instruments and techniques to ensure safe navigation of aircraft.
General Navigation is the most basic form of navigation, since it has been in vogue before the Radio Navigation Aids were invented. In this category, we shall understand the various aspects of General Air Navigation under the following topics.
- Direction, Latitude and Longitude
- Great Circles, Rhumb Lines & Directions on the Earth
- Earth Magnetism
- The Navigation Computer – Slide Rule Face
- The Navigation Computer – Distance, Speed, Time and Conversions
- The Navigation Computer – TAS and Altitude Conversions
- The Navigation Computer – Triangle of Velocities
- The Navigation Computer – Calculation of Heading and Wind Finding
- The Navigation Computer – Multi-drift Winds and Wind Components
- The 1 in 60 Rule
- Navigation Using the 1 in 60 Rule
- Other Applications of the 1 in 60 Rule
- Topographical Maps and Map Reading
- Convergency and Conversion Angle
- Departure
- Scale
- General Chart Properties
- Mercator Charts – Properties
- Mercator Charts – Scale
- Lambert’s Conformal Chart – 1
- Lambert’s Conformal Chart – 2
- The Polar Stereographic Chart
- Time (1)
- Time (2)
- Time (3)
- Gridded Charts
- Plotting
- The Direct Indicating Compass
- Aircraft Magnetism
In order to understand about navigating our aircraft on the surface of earth, we need to learn about the surface of earth in details. Let us start our discussion of General Navigation with our first topic on the Shape of Earth,