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General Navigation

Twenty-five chapters, written as one continuous course rather than three books read side by side. The CRP-5 slide-rule drills are left out; the ideas behind them and all of the chartwork are rebuilt as diagrams you can move through. Each chapter closes with twelve questions, drawn from the same bank you practise on.

25 chapters12-question check per chapter
Merged from R.K. Bali, Air Navigation CAE Oxford ATPL Book 10
0 of 25 chaptersAll 25 chapters published
Chapters

How a chapter works

  1. Read the pages in order. A chapter is six to eight short pages. Your place is saved as you go, so you can stop anywhere.
  2. Mark it up. Highlight or underline in four colours and write notes. Everything you save stays with the chapter.
  3. Clear the chapter check. Twelve questions drawn from CAE Oxford ATPL Book 10 and R.K. Bali's Air Navigation, kept to the DGCA syllabus and unlocked once you have read the last page. A miss links straight back to the page it came from.
  4. Move on, or drill it. Take the next chapter, or open the full General Navigation question bank in Practise.

About the DGCA General Navigation notes

General Navigation is concept heavy but high scoring once the core toolkit clicks: the 1-in-60 rule, the CX-3 flight computer, and reading great circles and rhumb lines on a chart. These 25 chapters are merged from R.K. Bali's Air Navigation with the CAE Oxford ATPL Book 10, building the calculation skills step by step, direction and convergency, chart properties and projections, time and dead reckoning, through to plotting and full navigation problems, so questions stop feeling unpredictable from paper to paper.

Reading is open to everyone. Sign in with a free account only if you want your place, highlights and notes to follow you across devices. When a chapter is clear, open the matching General Navigation question bank to drill repeated questions, or start from Chapter 1, Direction, Latitude and Longitude.

DGCA General Navigation study notes, frequently asked questions

What is the 1-in-60 rule and how is it used in DGCA navigation questions?
It is a rule of thumb for converting a track error in nautical miles and distance flown into a correction angle, used throughout the syllabus for in-flight and pre-flight correction questions.
How do I use a CX-3 flight computer for DGCA navigation calculations?
The CX-3 is the core calculation tool tested across the syllabus, for wind triangles, fuel and time problems and unit conversions. The chapters that use it walk through the same keystrokes the exam expects.
What is the difference between General Navigation, Radio Navigation and Instrument Navigation?
These are three separate components of the DGCA syllabus. General Navigation covers chartwork, plotting and dead reckoning, while Radio Navigation and Instrument Navigation are distinct subjects tested separately.
What are great circles and rhumb lines and why do they matter for CPL?
They are the two ways a track can be drawn between two points on a chart, and the syllabus expects you to know which chart projection preserves which property and why that changes the plotted course.
How should I use these notes with the question bank?
Read a chapter and work through its examples by hand with your own CX-3 or plotter before moving to the question bank. Navigation questions test calculation method as much as the underlying concept.