AIR NAVIGATION AND AIDS TO AIR NAVIGATION
In this chapter, you will be introduced to basic navigation, air navigation, navigational
equipment, charts, and publications used to facilitate air navigation. Understanding this
information is an integral part of the knowledge required to perform the duties as an air
traffic controller. The more you know about what goes into planning and completing a
successful flight, the better equipped you are to provide direction and offer assistance.
The material in this chapter will give you a basic understanding of the principles of
navigation, air navigation, and the aids that are available to assist the pilot in navigating
the aircraft from one point to another.
The material in this chapter will enable you to:
Describe the fundamentals and terms of navigation and the fundamentals of
plotting a position.
Describe the different procedures used to plot a position.
Identify the various aeronautical charts and publications used in air navigation,
when they are updated, and the factors involved in chart construction and design.
Describe the basic components, functions, uses, and limitations of various
navigational aids (NAVAIDS) as they relate to air traffic control (ATC).
State the minimum standards required for monitors, monitor facilities, and
monitoring of NAVAIDS.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF AIR NAVIGATION
In performing your daily duties, you should have an understanding of the basic
fundamentals of air navigation. Navigation is generally defined as the process of
directing movement from one place to another. Air navigation is the process of directing
the movement of an aircraft from one point to another. Air navigation has borrowed and
adapted many of the instruments, practices, and procedures of marine navigation; thus,
basic knowledge and skills are the same for marine and air navigation.
Regardless of the specific method or combination of methods of navigation used by a
navigator, the procedures applied must furnish a solution to the three basic problems of
navigation. The three basic problems are:
1. How to determine position