Navigation Examination Hints

Frequently the Navigation examination has several questions where magnetic variation and deviation creep into the answers. The incorrect answers will always be applying the variation the wrong way and getting the two confused. At the start of the examination you will be given a blank sheet of paper, before you look at the examination questions construct the Variation / Deviation diagram. Start with True Virgins Make Dull Company, (remembering that virgins are probably Cadets!) On the sheet of paper write T V M D C across the width in big letters and CADET in a corner somewhere.

Add the words True, Variation, Magnetic, Deviation and Compass. Draw some arrows on the diagram, start with how we write, Left to Right. Underneath add the back arrows. Already you can see that Variation is the difference between True North and Magnetic North and Deviation is the difference between Magnetic North and what the Compass is actually reading, 25% chance that will be one of the questions!

Continuing on the theme of going left to right, think of a compass rose, left to right is West to East. On the first arrow going left to right, write W+, repeat on second arrow going the same way. If West is + then East must be - so write E- next to W+. Whatever has been written on the top arrows, the lower arrows must be completely opposite so write the complete opposite on them,W- and E+. That's it! You should be able to replicate this diagram in 28 secs; if you are fortunate to be sitting the examination in an a formal environment, chances are that you can get the diagrams down before the clock even starts!

Check if it's correct, we have the word CADET, that spells out C(Compass)AD(Add)E(East)T(True). Check the diagram, and make sure that whenever you are following an arrow in the direction of Compass towards True, you are ADding East. Throughout your flying career, you will be amazed how many times you will transcribe this same diagram!

Once you have constructed the standard Variation / Deviation diagram, need the three speed / time / distance equations. Start with the simplest one, that is where nothing is divided and everything is in alphabetical order.

From this equation d=st, we can deduce the other two. You want to leave s on its own so t needs to be moved onto the other side. As it moves over the equal sign it switches between top / bottom or bottom / top. Repeat with s to leave t on its own.

Now you have the three distance, speed and time equations, quickly check them using simple logic:

Navigation Examination Technique

Both Navigation and Flight Performance and Planning require an exam technique. Work your way through answering the quick questions, if you are not sure of any of the answers, make your best guess but note the question number on workings sheet. When you reach the end, go back and answer the questions that require a bit more time, starting with the ones that you know you can get the correct answers for given time.

Finally, go through the entire exam, checking everything, on the maths and CRP questions, if you have not already drawn a little diagram, do so and guess the answer because chances are, it's not the maths that you got wrong, it's the sense. For example, if a question is 'An aircraft is landing at White Waltham on runway 29 and is given the wind as 250°/15, draw it. As you can see its obvious the wind is from the left by 40°, the aircraft will be blown to the right, if the wind was 60° we know most of the wind would be a crosswind say 13 or 14Kts of that 15 Kts; 40° is about ⅔ of 60° so guess the answer as ⅔ of 15 Kts, 10 Kts from the left. (In reality you would ask for runway 25, it's nearer the bar!)

Tip: When you draw a compass rose, NEVER make it a functional part of the diagram, put it aside into one of the corners as shown above. If you make it part of the diagram, one day you will get confused and think the centre of the compass rose is some kind of origin. Many of the aviation text books make this confusing!

Examination Management

All examinations require:

1. Knowledge.
2. Technique.
3. Management.

Management is how we apply the techniques based on our knowledge. Technique will require answering the questions out of sequence and your working sheet should be organised and clear to give you the best possible chance of going back over the examination, something similar to the one shown on the right.

Finally, once you have sat the examination, please provide feedback to your instructor and of course your fellow students who may not have sat this exam yet. I welcome any suggestions or critique on how I could improve this website based on your experiences.