Navigation
Core concepts
Navigation questions test dead reckoning, radio navigation, and area navigation. Know the relationship between true course, magnetic course, heading, and drift, and how wind triangle problems are solved. Understand VOR, DME, ILS, and GNSS principles, including the meaning of radial, bearing, and course. Know the earth's magnetism, variation, and deviation, and how they convert between true and magnetic. Understand great-circle versus rhumb-line tracks and when each is used. Also know the principles of RNAV and RNP and the meaning of required navigation performance.
Traps in questions
A common trap is confusing variation (earth's field) with deviation (aircraft's own field). Another is mixing radial 'from' the station with bearing 'to' the station. Questions on wind triangle often hinge on whether wind is given as true or magnetic; always convert before solving.
Worked example / rule of thumb
True heading = true course ± drift; magnetic heading = true heading ± variation; compass heading = magnetic heading ± deviation. Rule of thumb: work in true values first, then apply variation, then deviation - never skip a step.