Navigation
Navigation questions test map reading, the triangle of velocities, and time/distance/fuel calculations. Know the terms: true course, true heading, magnetic heading, compass heading, wind correction angle, and the difference between true and magnetic north (variation) and between magnetic and compass north (deviation). Understand the triangle of velocities: heading and true airspeed combined with wind velocity give track and groundspeed. Learn to use the CRP-1 or similar flight computer and to plot on a chart.
Traps: applying variation in the wrong direction (east is least, west is best for converting true to magnetic), forgetting deviation, and confusing track with heading. Candidates also miscompute groundspeed by adding wind instead of resolving it as a vector. Always draw the triangle and label it before computing.
Worked example: true course 090°, variation 10° west, deviation 2° east. Magnetic heading = true course + variation (west) = 100°; compass heading = magnetic − deviation (east) = 98°. For the wind triangle: if TAS is 100 kt and there is a 20 kt wind from the north while tracking east, the wind is a crosswind, so groundspeed remains about 100 kt but you need a wind correction angle of about 11° into wind. Rule of thumb: "east is least, west is best" - add west variation to go from true to magnetic, subtract east variation.