ATPL General Navigation (061) study guide
ATPL General Navigation (061) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
General Navigation (061) is one of the fourteen ground-examination subjects a candidate must pass on the way to an Airline Transport Pilot Licence under the EASA system, and it is also sat by candidates following other national ATPL schemes that use a similar subject list. It is aimed at pilots who already hold, or are working towards, a commercial licence and who need to demonstrate that they can navigate an aircraft to professional standards without relying solely on automation. The ATPL General Navigation (061) study guide has 9 sections and about 3,340 words.
01Shape and Dimensions of the Earth, Coordinate Systems and Position
General Navigation begins with the shape of the Earth and the coordinate grid used to fix position. The exam tests definitions, units and conversions rather than geodesy for its own sake.
375 words, about 2 min02Terrestrial Magnetism, Variation, Deviation and Compasses
Terrestrial magnetism is modelled by a dipole whose magnetic poles are offset from the geographic poles. The field has horizontal (H) and vertical (Z) components; dip is the angle of the field to the horizontal, zero at the magnetic equator and 90° at the magnetic poles.
363 words, about 2 min03Charts: Projections, Scale, Relief, Chart Properties and Use
Aeronautical charts are selected for the property the navigation task needs: conformality (angles and shapes preserved), a straight rhumb line, a straight great circle, or manageable scale. Mercator is conformal; rhumb lines plot straight, but great circles curve poleward and scale expands with latitude.
390 words, about 2 min04Dead Reckoning: Triangle of Velocities, Track, Heading, Wind and Ground Speed
Dead reckoning combines the aircraft’s air vector (heading and TAS) with the wind vector (direction and speed) to give the ground vector (track and ground speed). Wind direction is always the direction from which the wind blows.
362 words, about 2 min05In-Flight Navigation: Visual Navigation, Map Reading, Position Lines and Radio Aids
In-flight visual navigation uses the chart, the ground and the clock together. Orient the map to the ground (or mentally rotate it), follow a deliberate sequence of checkpoints, and compare expected with observed features.
377 words, about 2 min06Flight Planning and Navigation Computations: Fuel, Time, Leg Calculations and Replanning
Flight planning converts distance, ground speed, fuel flow and time into a navigation log. For each leg: time = distance ÷ GS; fuel = fuel flow × time.
368 words, about 2 min07Great Circles and Rhumb Lines: Properties, Calculations and Plotting
A great circle is the intersection of the Earth’s surface with a plane through the centre; it is the shortest surface distance between two points. The equator and all meridian pairs are great circles.
377 words, about 2 min08Time: UTC, LMT, Standard Time, Time Zones and Navigation Problems
UTC is the reference time for navigation and flight plans; it is not affected by seasonal clock changes. Local mean time (LMT) depends on longitude: the Earth turns 15° per hour, so 1° = 4 minutes.
371 words, about 2 min09Area Navigation (RNAV) and Basic GNSS Principles
Area navigation (RNAV) lets an aircraft fly a desired path using signals or data from various sources, rather than tracking directly to or from a ground station. A basic RNAV route is defined by waypoints and legs; the system computes track, distance and guidance.
357 words, about 2 min