By: Zuliana Ismail, 2010

Ran 2204: Radio & Navigation Aids (4 credit hours)

Class duration:

• Week 1-6: Lecture

• Week 7-8: Mid term test & public Speaking
• Week 9-14: Lecture
• Week 15-16: Final Exam
1) Introduction to RAN
2) Radio Theory
3) ADF : Automatic Direction Finder & NDB: Non
Directional Beacon
4) VOR: VHF Omni Directional Range
5) ILS & MLS: Instrument Landing System
6) RADAR
7) DME : Distance Measuring Equipment
8) GPS: Global Positioning System
9) ALS: Approach Lightings System
10) TCAS: Traffic Collision Avoidance System
11) GPWS: Global Proximity Warning System
At the end of this lecture, the student should
be able to:
Define Navigation
Describe basic methods use for navigation
List navigational aids system for aircraft during
departure, en-route and approach.
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.
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
There are three common ways for aircraft
navigation.
PILOTAGE
DEAD RECKONING
RADIO NAVIGATION
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: 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: the location of the airplane is
determined by referring to instruments such as VOR,
ADF, or GPS.
• 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)
• 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)
Aircraft Installations:
Indicator System in the Cockpit
Aircraft’s Antenna
Ground Installations
Ground Antenna
 ILS
VOR

NDB

DME MLS