Navigation Topics

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate!

Zack von Menchhofen September 19th, 2024

Anyone can learn to land an airplane (I sincerely believe that). That’s the easy part. What separates pilots from the "Average Joe" is all the other stuff the FAA expects you to know to pass a flight test. Why? Simple: You can’t just pull over in the middle of the sky to fix a problem.

So, pilots have to dive into a bunch of topics that might sound like a nightmare to most people, but are crucial to keep that plane in the air. You’re talking physics (aeronautics—how planes stay up); mechanics (understanding engines—because when something goes wrong at 5,000 feet, you better know what it is); meteorology (because weather isn't just small talk when you’re flying through it); navigation (getting from A to B); and, of course, the rulebook—Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs)—which are basically laws of the sky.

Now, I’ll tell you this: most pilots have to love these subjects. But if you press them, they’ve all got that one area that gets their heart racing. That one piece of the puzzle they "nerd-out" on. And from my experience, you can break pilots down into five main “love categories” depending on what really excites them.

First, you’ve got the aerobatic junkies. These are the pilots that live for high G turns and perfecting maneuvers in parts of the flight envelope most of us don’t touch. They geek out on things like "unloading the wing" and "relative wind to the chord line"—stuff that would make your average pilot’s head spin (haha - get it? spin!).

Then there are the mechanical minds. These folks could sit and talk shop about “points in the mag” or “oil viscosity” for hours. They’re the ones who are happiest when they squeeze an extra knot of airspeed by making their engine run like a Swiss watch.

Next up: the weather wizards. You know who I’m talking about—the guys who can identify any cloud type from a mile away, have storm stories that’ll make you shiver, and think of meteorology like a second language. They’re the first ones to pull up METARs and explain how a weather front is going to impact your flight.

And then there’s a special breed—the regulation devotees. These folks quote the FARs like they’re sacred scripture. If you’ve ever heard someone quote FAR 91.3 off the top of their head, you know the type. God help you if you don’t know section 61! Some even have the AIM (Aeronautical Information Manual) memorized, for crying out loud.

Finally, you’ve got my tribe: the navigators. We’re the ones who love plotting courses, crunching numbers for ded reckoning, and tracing great circles on charts. Celestial navigation? Sign me up. We live for the challenge of finding the most efficient way to get from point A to point B—whether it’s across town or across the world.

At the end of the day, all of these aspects come together to make sure we stay safe up there. But I’ll bet you, every pilot falls into one of these five categories.

I get it—nowadays, most pilots hop into the cockpit, punch their route into a GPS unit like a Garmin or Avidyne, or fire up ForeFlight on their tablet, and they’re set. No more getting out the ol’ sectional chart, plotter, and E6B to painstakingly calculate a course with wind correction angles (I love E6Bs and have several scattered around the house and hangar). Heck, with GPS, you don't even have to worry about deviations much anymore. Modern tech does most of the heavy lifting.

And yeah, I admit I do it too. I’m all about efficiency when it comes to flight planning, and plugging a course into my GNC355 Navigator is a lot quicker than doing it manually. But deep down, I still get a kick out of the traditional way. Every now and then, I break out the sectional charts, grab my plotter, and have a go at the math, just for the fun of it. There's something about calculating that perfect course with a VOR frequency, especially knowing that the entire world is moving toward GPS-based navigation. You know, VORs are becoming a thing of the past, and soon, we might not even have them around. But for now, I’ll keep plotting my course lines or spinning that dial and tuning my Narco just to keep my chops sharp. The FAA had the Flight Navigator's handbook on their website (FAA-H-8083-18). It doesn't look like they still have it but google the FAA-H number and you can still find it. If I could find a CFI that could sign me off, I'd love to sit for the FAA Flight Navigator's certificate. I'm not the only one, there are entire Reddit boards asking the same question - how to get a Flight Navigator's Certificate.

A few months back, I read Understanding Mathematics for Aircraft Navigation (get it here: On Amazon NOT an affliate link) by James Wolper. It’s an excellent deep dive into the math behind navigation (pro tip: if you love trig, this book’s your dog bone). Wolper breaks down the mechanics and theory behind traditional navigation methods. It’s a lot of trigonometry, which, let’s face it, most of us haven’t touched since high school. I definitely had to do some Googling to refresh terms like “cosine,” “sine,” and “tangent.” It was a bit of a workout for my brain, but totally worth it.

Even though most of us are using GPS these days, there’s something deeply satisfying about understanding the math behind it all—the fundamentals that made aviation navigation possible long before satellites were guiding our every move. Reading Wolper's book took me back to when I first started flying and had to actually figure things out on paper.

That said, here on Bonanza Boys, I’m planning to break down some of those complex navigation topics in a way that’s more easily understood (for both you and me). I’ll be digging into Wolper’s material and exploring other cool aspects of navigation. If you’ve ever been curious about the magic behind ded reckoning, celestial navigation, or why you always hear about great circle routes, you’re in the right place.

Disclaimer: This page is just for me to spread my nerd-love of navigation topics. It should never replace a CFI or actual flight instruction. Not for flight planning purposes.