Overview :

Basic Navigation System

INTRODUCTION

Do you know what is

this subject is all about?
RADIO AIDS &
NAVIGATIONAL
SYSTEMS??
INTRODUCTION
What is NAVIGATION?

Navigation: The process of plan and direct the

route of aircraft by using MAPS or
NAVIGATIONAL AID SYSTEMS.
Air Navigation – The action of plotting and
directing the route of an aircraft through the
air from one place to another. Adapted from the United States Air
Force Dictionary.
 Objectives of navigation

Know your position

Efficient use of fuel
Maintain a flight schedule
Avoid other air traffic
Avoid ground-to-air missiles
Minimize exposure to enemy radar
 1927: Charles Lindbergh
First flying across the Atlantic ocean
(New York-Paris) using the Spirit of St. Louis

His journey cover 5,815km and took about 33 and 1/2

hours. Fly without any navigation instruments
Flight Rules: IFR/VFR
Aircraft flying

1. Visual Flight Rules – VFR

Aircraft flying by visual
references

Including natural horizon,

landmarks, terrain features,
relative motion outside

2. Instrument Flight Rules - IFR

Aircraft flying by instruments
indication inside the flight deck.
Introduction to Navigation
Under VFR operations, the basic method of navigation is:
• Map reading

• Visual Navigation

• Dead Reckoning

While under IFR operations, the basic method of navigation is:

• Radio Navigation

• Area Navigation

However, as we are going to fly Boeing 737-800,

today we shall focus on Radio Navigation and Area Navigation.
Ways of Navigation
There are three common ways for aircraft
navigation.
PILOTAGE
DEAD RECKONING
RADIO NAVIGATION
Pilotage
Pilotage: navigation by reference to landmarks or
checkpoints
Pilot uses a chart and flies from one visible landmark to
another.
Requires relatively low altitudes so that landmarks can
be seen and recognized more easily
Advantages:
easy to perform
does not require special equipment
Disadvantages:
direct course is usually impractical as it is often
necessary to follow a zigzag route to well-known
landmarks, resulting in longer flights
Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning: navigation of an aircraft solely by

means of computations based on time, airspeed,
distance, and direction.
Advantages:
straighter line courses possible
Disadvantages
requires calculations prior to flight
may be inaccurate as weather changes rapidly on some cases
 More typically, a course is determined and flown by calculations
made from dead reckoning, and then backed up by pilotage
during the flight
Radio navigation
Radio navigation: the location of the airplane is
determined by referring to instruments such as VOR,
ADF, or GPS.
Radio Navigation
• Radio Navigation is navigating an aircraft though application of radio.

• The main principles:

1. Direction - By bearing or radio phrases.

2. Distance – By measuring of travel times.

• The main types of Radio Equipment :

1. NDB – Non-directional Beacon

2. VOR – Omni-directional Radio Range

3. DME – Distance measuring equipment

4. ILS – Instrument Landing System

Flight Profile
Instrumentation

Aircraft Installations:
Indicator System in the Cockpit
Aircraft’s Antenna
Ground Installations
Ground Antenna
Indicator System in the
Cockpit
Aircraft’s Antenna
 En-Route/Cruise Landing
Navigation Navigation
ILS
VOR

NDB

DME MLS
Navigational Aids System

• For En-Route/Cruise, the navigational aids

system are:
• NDB (Non Directional Beacon) & ADF
(Automatic Direction Finding)
• VOR (VHF Omni-directional Range)
• DME (Distance Measuring Equipment)
• RADAR(Radio Detection & Ranging)
• GPS(Global Positioning System)
 Navigational Aids System

• For Approach and Landing, the

navigational aids system are:
• ILS (Instrument Landing System)
• MLS (Microwave Landing System)
• ALS (Approach Lighting System)
• RADAR(Radio Detection & Ranging)
NDB Non-Directional Beacon
• NDB stands for Non-directional Beacon

• Early type of navigation aids – on Medium Freq.

• Simple, reliable and relatively inexpensive

• Needle in ADF (Automatic Direction Finder) will always point to the

NDB when tuned to the channel

• There is only one NDB in Hong Kong

Lam Chau (LC 390 kHz)

• Most NDB has been decommissioned, such as

HKG (Cape D’Aguilar) and SL (Sha Lo Wan)
VOR VHF Omni-Directional Range
- VOR stands for VHF Omni-directional Range

- On VHF – (118.0 MHz - 117.95 MHz )

- Designed to provide 360 courses for navigation

- In modern days, there are usually two different VORs :

1. VORDME (VOR + Distance Measuring Equipment)

2. VORTAC (VOR + Tactical Aircraft Control - Military)

- Both will provide direction and distance for navigation

VOR Indicator
- We may read and navigate the VOR by using the VOR Indicator

- A: The VOR bearing

to be intercepted

- B: The knob is to rotate

the card (A) – turning the course

- C: To and from shows whether we are tracking the radio course

FROM or TO the VOR

- D: The needle at the middle can swing left or right

- Represent the course selected is on the left/right of the aircraft
How to track VOR course?
• 1. Fly a intercepting heading
to track a VOR course

• 2. Turn the knob to rotate the course card.

(to the course you want to intercept)

3. Check the TO/FROM indicator.

4. The Course Deviation Indicator

will move slowly to the centre

5. Turn your aircraft to the course heading

6. Keep tracking the course with the

Course Deviation Indicator.

• VOR Simulator
ILS Instrument Landing System
- ILS stands for Instrument Landing System.

- It is divided into two system mainly – Localizer and Glideslope

- For Horizontal guidance and Vertical guidance respectively.

ILS Localizer / Markers
- Localizer (LOC/LLZ) – An array for Horizontal Guidance

- Usually with Outer Marker and

- Middle Marker or even Inner Maker for
some airport

- In some airport, there are no Glideslope

and the Localizer can be offset – such as
LOC/DME Rwy 16 Approach at Macau Intl
ILS Glideslope
- Glideslope (G/S) – An array for Vertical Guidance

- Usually 3 degrees Glide path .

- Some are steeper due to restrictions

– Kai Tak IGS – 3.1degree , London City ILS Rwy10 - 5.5 degrees)
ILS for landing
1. Tune the navigation frequency to the corresponding ILS frequency
(Rwy 07L ILS - 111.1 MHz)

2. Tune the course to runway heading (Rwy 07L CRS 073)

3. Fly on an intercept heading and fly towards the ILS

4. (Usually 30 degrees from course)

5. Engage the Approach Mode on Autopilot

6. The course deviation needle (as in VOR)

will move to the centre (that is localizer)

7. The points on the right will come to centre

(point above centre is flying lower than the GS,
below is that the aircraft is flying higher than GS)

Intercept Low, never Intercept High!

ILS Categories
- 3 main Categories for ILS

- CAT I, CAT II and CAT III

They have different requirements on decision height

(Decision on LAND or GO AROUND)
and on Visibility or Runway Visual Range

Category IIIc is capable for full autoland

(Good but much expensive due to equipment!)

At Indonesian Sukarno - Hatta Airport, are capable for Cat I Landing.

At Hong Kong International Airport, 07R, 07L and 25L are capable for
Cat II landing, while 25R is capable for Cat II and Cat III landing.