Navigation
Three ways to know where you are
Pilotage uses visible landmarks; dead reckoning uses time, heading, and airspeed; radio navigation uses ground-based or satellite aids. A commercial candidate should be fluent in all three and in the conversions among true, magnetic, and compass headings. Variation is the angular difference between true and magnetic north, shown on charts by isogonic lines; the agonic line has zero variation. Deviation is the error within your own compass, read from the compass card. Remember east is least, west is best: with east variation, magnetic heading is less than true heading.
Wind and the flight computer
Wind correction angle is computed from wind direction and speed relative to your course; the E6B (or an equivalent app) gives heading, groundspeed, time en route, and fuel. Track is the path over the ground; course is the intended path; heading is where the nose points. Traps appear when a question supplies a wind from the left and asks which way to correct - always toward the wind.
Airspace and charts
Know Class A (18,000 MSL to FL600, IFR only), Class B (clearance required, 3 SM and clear of clouds), Class C/D (3 SM, 500 below, 1,000 above, 2,000 horizontal), Class E, and Class G VFR minimums. TFRs, MOAs, and restricted areas appear constantly: an MOA is not a prohibition, a restricted area is.
Lost procedures
Climb (better radio and visibility), communicate, confess, comply, and conserve. Use VOR cross-fixes, GPS, or flight following rather than wandering.
Worked example
True course 090°, variation 12°E, deviation 3°W. East variation is subtracted: magnetic heading 078°. Deviation 3°W is added: compass heading 081°. Check the direction of each correction before you pick an answer.