CAA NZ ATPL Theory - Flight Navigation General

It is a multiple-choice theory examination sat at an approved examination venue. The CAA publishes the current subject syllabus, the number of questions and the time allowed in its advisory material, so check the CAA New Zealand website for the figures that apply to your sitting rather than relying on older study notes.

Most candidates find it moderate but unforgiving. The concepts are familiar from the CPL, but the questions combine them: a wind triangle feeding a heading, then a magnetic conversion, then a fuel or time calculation. Errors compound quickly, so accuracy under time pressure matters more than raw knowledge.

Yes, resits are possible, but the rules on how many attempts are allowed and any waiting period are set by the CAA. Confirm the current policy on the CAA New Zealand site before you book. Treat a failure as diagnostic: identify whether the loss came from a knowledge gap or from arithmetic slips.

Allow at least six to eight weeks of steady work if you study part-time around flying. Spend roughly half that time on the triangle of velocities and flight planning, because they carry the most marks and underpin many other questions. Finish with timed practice so pacing is tested, not just understanding.

Start with bearings and conversions, since everything else assumes them. Then the triangle of velocities, then dead reckoning and flight planning. Radio navigation aids and RNAV come next, followed by time and longitude problems, meteorology and altimetry, and finally long-range and instrument systems. That order builds each topic on the one before.

Mixing true, magnetic and compass values in one calculation; applying variation with the wrong sign; and using ground speed where airspeed is required, or the reverse. Others lose marks by rounding too early in multi-step problems. Write the sign convention down at the start of every calculation and carry full precision to the end.

You should be fluent with the standard relationships rather than reciting them. Know the wind triangle, the conversion between track and heading, and the time, distance and speed relationship well enough to rearrange them without hesitation. Practise with a navigation computer and by hand, since the exam may reward either approach.

Nothing beyond school trigonometry and ratio arithmetic. The difficulty is applying it correctly under time pressure, not the mathematics itself. Practise estimating an answer before computing it, so a transposed digit or a wrong sign is caught immediately rather than carried into the next question.

The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand publishes the licensing rules, subject syllabi and examination information on its website. Use those documents as the authority for what is examinable, and use independent study material such as this page only to practise and consolidate what the syllabus requires.