June 2009

Grasp the basics,

add a method -
bring your GPS into
the equation
PPG NAV 5

A short guide - how to navigate using

DR with support from your GPS Unit.

[1]
 Does navigation aloft still feel
like a bit of a mystery tour?
How
many off us
spend too much
time staring at a small
screen whilst the
world whizzes
by?

If you look for ‘how to’ covering
pilot navigation techniques you
come across many for regular
fixed wing flight, I haven’t seen
any that deal with the sedate 20
knots that we fly at.
Equally, floating on a sea of
theory is a fine thing, drowning
beneath it with no way of
applying knowledge can be
frustrating as you struggle
through trial and error to find a
system that works for you in the
air.
This guide offers tools that will
help you, prepare, plan and then
fly your navigation exercise
safely with the minimum of
equipment - just a map, a
compass and your brain.
unit is important if you want to
fly without a GPS or keep
navigating safely when it packs
up.
The wise pilot develops a strong
base skill to which the GPS
merely adds value.
Google Earth is a tremendous
resource, how might you use it
to help you plan or prepare
yourself for your cross country
flights?
First, just a little history to
provide a little perspective.

What to do about GPS puzzles

some; this amazing device
brings high quality navigational
data to your aerial exercise; but
how will you integrate it into our
flying without supplanting
essential basic pilot navigation
techniques?
Retaining a strong element of
independence from your GPS

[2]
What is pilot navigation?
The earliest aviators made their
way around the sky using what
was available to other fellow
navigators. Road, rail, civil and
military maps of all kinds were
adapted and pressed into
service. Navigation was a very
imprecise art.
on the passage of the aircraft
providing the tools to aid the
maintenance of a planned track
across the ground. Predicting
arrival times over destination or
target became operationally
vital. Science began exerting a
fierce and enduring influence on
navigation practice but there is
still room for a little art.

The Great War changed Flight over then inconceivable

everything. Aviation advanced
with an explosive intensity as
the military began to grasp the
power of the aerial photograph
see the military value of the
aeroplane. Coordination between
the affairs of mud and sky
created a pressing need for
dedicated aeronautical charts;
what we have now are the
results of this evolution, superbly
detailed maps that display
everything of relevance to the
aviator.
Straight forward map reading
was the first method established
for pilot navigation. Following
roads and railway lines, iron
compasses as they were called,
guaranteed your destination as
surely as if you were aboard the
train (assuming you picked up
the right line - or ‘track’).
distances at night and above
cloud demanded planning and
precision, academic types called
navigators joined expanding
crews of increasingly large and
more capable flying machines.
Thankfully we are concerned
with flight more proximate to the
earths surface and now have
inexpensive devices that draw
their centimetric accuracy from
the heavens with an ability to
ease the navigation task (or
complicate it).
Despite the relentless march of
technology we still need to
develop pilot navigation skills.
Without them we are heavily
reliant on the vagaries of the
satellite system, batteries,
plastic, silicon and ultimately
gravity.
Conclusion
You can use either
method - map read your
way from ‘A’ around the
countryside, aware of
your position, moving
from B to C with
confidence. You may
even be able to make a
fair guess at what time
you will arrive at D.
As soon as the ‘need to
know when’ question
becomes pressing, the
calculation process starts
to take on significance.

When a requirement emerged to Thankfully navigating without Select your method to

fly on direct tracks and operate using GPS is very satisfying and suit your purpose, but
aircraft towards the limits of creates a relationship with the for doing a distance with
their fuel capacity, it became task based on understanding, your precious litres, you
essential to be able to plan not blind reliance. After all, what need a little method in
specifics and predict outcomes. sort of operative do you want to
your madness
From this point dead reckoning be, a driver or an aviator?
navigation (DR) became
ascendant.
Precision became the watchword
with accurate speed control, a
knowledge of the effect of wind

[3]
THE
CHARTROOM
Chart Symbols
Time spend studying your
charts is seldom wasted.
Obstructions, danger and
restricted areas, airspace,
terrain elevations and flying
fields ad all manner of other
things are represented on
your chart.
It is essential that you
become familiar with the
symbology, you need to
understand it to work
effectively within your new
world.
lands, you must
Maps & all that…
Maps are a big subject, the
process of representing our
curved planet’s surface on a flat
piece of paper accurately has
challenged great minds though
history. Suffice it to say that
within aviation we use a ‘suitable
projections’ that have the
characteristics we require. If you
are interested, do a bit of
research, you might start by
looking at your chart and finding
out which projection is being
used, you will find it defined in
the wide margins. Then have a
look at what Wikipedia has to
say about it.
The CAA publish two charts
for VFR navigation in the UK.
The 1:250,000 and the
1:500,000 chart. They are
commonly referred to by
aviators as ‘quarter and the half
mill’ (short for million and
topographical).
Working your way around your
charts (or ‘Air Map’ as some call
them) will provide hours of
entertainment and expand your
knowledge. You may even
develop a lifelong fascination for
them.
Chart scales - those with a
mathematical bent tend to jump
on scales with glee but it is
enough that we look on these
To reach
undiscovered
leave safe and
familiar
shores
[4]
two charts as large and small
scale version of a similar view,
but which is which?
The quarter mill (aside - top
graphic-large scale) is a view
from say 20,000’ above the
earth and is highly detailed.
It shows a smaller area for the
same size piece of paper as the
half mill. Controlled airspace and
that surrounding airfields and
areas of intense aerial activity
are represented.
Lateral dimensions (eg airspace)
are shown as lines, vertical as
numbers (altitudes or flight
levels) at and below 5000’/FL55.
This map is handy for
paramotoring as information
above 5000’/FL55 is omitted.
The half mill (aside and below-
small scale) could be regarded
as a view from low earth orbit
and contains a greater area but
with less topographical detail
and comprehensive airspace
information reaching into the
higher levels.
Both maps have their
applications for us with
paramotoring. Half mill charts
are handy for planning longer
cross countries or expeditions,
the quarter mill is well suited for
in-flight use at the lower
altitudes at which we tend to fly.
More on Maps and For planning, track angles are True North using the vertical
measured using a protractor, but lines on the chart.
Charts... with practice the eye can give a
tolerable estimate of track from We must apply variation to this
Units a chart when ‘under way’. figure to give a magnetic value
Take a piece of string and A handy skill aboard a paramotor to your track line so that in still
measure it. Does its length vary where the navigators ‘chart air, if you followed that magnetic
by the unit of measurement table’ is a little small and wind heading using your compass you
used? blown. would progress along your
By convention aviators in most desired track.
parts of the World use knots, North reference
feet, pounds or kilograms and There is a huge chunk of Isogonals (see graphic below)
degrees Celsius. magnetic material beneath the are lines joining points of
earths surface in Northern equal magnetic variation from
You may of course use any units Canada. All the compasses in the True North.
you wish but before diverging World point toward it. All To convert a True track Tk(T) to
from the standard above aeronautical charts base their its Magnetic value Tk(M), use
consider this; aeronautical charts ‘grid’ system on a point at the the Isogonal value nearest
have nautical miles and feet built top of the rotating earth - the bit the centre of your track and
into their DNA, knots make a that remains ‘stationary’ as the apply it as follows:-
compatible unit. earth rotates. That point is called
Whenever wind is reported for True North. ‘East is Least’ - you subtract
aeronautical use, it appears in easterly variation from Tk(T) to
knots. Depending on where you stand produce magnetic track Tk(M).
All terrain is marked in feet on our planet there is an angular ‘West is best’ add westerly
above sea level. difference between the position variation to Tk(T) to produce
Using other units may produce of Magnetic North and True Tk(M).
bigger numbers beloved of North. This difference is called
salesmen, but using them isn’t Magnetic Variation (see graphic The map below to the left shows
going to make you cover the below). the approximate distribution of
ground any faster. Your string magnetic variation across our
remains the same length no Headings are flown referenced region. In the UK we experience
matter how it is measured and to Magnetic North as we use a around 2-5º of Westerly variation
converting wind-speeds from magnetic compass to steer by. - a figure that changes by a tiny
forecasts and reports into mph amount every year.
or kph is a pain. So you decide; Charts have lines marked
just ensure that you are uniform vertically and horizontally upon Heard of Compass deviation?
in the way you measure and them. These lines of Longitude great - forget it, but be aware
calculate distance and speed. and Latitude are referenced to that the metal that surrounds
True North. We use the vertical you will have an effect on any
Measurement lines of Longitude to measure compass you carry.
Dividers make an excellent and the directional relationship of our
accurate measure with a ruler track line on the map to True Navigation for us is a game of
coming a close second. The most North. planning and estimation on the
inaccurate is with a thumb, but ground followed by estimation
for our purposes as you will see Recap: Using a protractor we and adjustment in the air.
later, once airborne - it will just measure our track in relation to
about do.

[5]
Paramotor
Speeds and
Flight Planning
We have no airspeed indicator
aboard a PPG but assuredly
there is a value to the speed that
we make our way through the
air.
There are two different
definitions of speed that are
useful to us in the navigation of
our paramotor. The speed that
we fly through the air, and the
speed at which we cross the
ground after the wind has had its
influence. These two speeds are
accurately described as True Air
Speed (TAS) and Ground Speed
(GS) respectively.
TAS - This is the speed at which
your machine flies through the
air. Air density and temperature
variations at low altitudes will
produce small but hardly
noticeable differences in true air
speed day to day.
Fly at high altitude and you may
well sail along significantly faster
than you might at sea level, but
for the sake of simplicity, let’s
just assume that we have one
cruising speed that we can
consistently achieve and
routinely use for covering ground
at lower (below 5000’) cross
country altitudes.
Knowledge of this actual figure is
important for cross country
flying. All our time/distance/
speed calculations are going to
be based on it. With our cruise
speeds being comparable to the
likely winds we will meet, being
four knots out in our ‘guess’ at
our TAS can make a big
difference in time, even over a
short distance.
Eg: 20nm @ 20kts = 60 mins
20 nm @ 24kts = 50 mins.
We need to establish what our
TAS is going to be at our typical
cruising altitudes.
One way of doing this is to fly
carrying/wearing the gear that
you will routinely have present.
This will put you craft at a typical
weight generating typical drag.
Try this on a calm day if you can,
using the ‘three headings’
method below should allow for
the existing wind on the day and
get you close to the TAS you will
use for planning purposes.
The ‘Three Headings Method’
of finding an average ‘still air’
groundspeed (that will relate
directly to you TAS).
You need a readable compass.
Before you take to the air think
practically about how you will
use your compass in flight -
how you are going to set and fly
a heading. This may sound
obvious but… walk a dry run on
the ground first - rehearse
making your heading changes
and see the effects that turning
has on your compass. Learn to
estimate the turn required to
change heading by given
amounts - say 10 - 20 - 30º.
Now take to the air - set up
cruise flight at your chosen
altitude with the speed bar and
trimmer setting you will routinely
use.
Fly three timed legs on three
different headings displaced by
120º apart, say 360º, then 120º,
then 240º magnetic, all at the
same altitude and at your
constant cruise speed for 2 - 3
minutes.
This should be just enough to
give you a stable and reliable GS
figure on each heading.
Record and average on each leg.
Add these three ‘averaged’ GS’s,
together, divide by three to find
their average. That should take
care of any wind at the altitude
at which you took the samples
[6]
and should be as close as you
are likely to get to your TAS
(still air groundspeed) which you
can use as your cruise TAS for
your future time/distance
planning.
Does this matter? Yes, I think it
does; We are trying to move one
good step away from stumbling
around with a map towards
meaningful navigation.
If you can remove as many
inaccuracies as possible from
your calculations and work with
figures that represent reality,
your navigation performance will
become more predictable and
the effort you apply to improving
you technique will yield pleasing
results.
If you can’t be bothered to do this
you might ask someone of your size
and weight who uses your combo of
wing and motor - ask what standard
still air speed he/she uses... or just
use 20 knots and adjust later!
Are you flying at your
optimum cruise settings -
are you curious?
Experiment - Fly directly
into wind in smooth air at
your normal cruise altitude
(then you will not whistle
downwind.)
Set up cruising flight using
what you believe to be your
best cruise setting
combination of power, trim
and speedbar. Note the
groundspeed over a couple
of minutes at thirty second
intervals.
Leaving the power at your
cruise setting, experiment
by changing one parameter
at a time (speedbar/trim)
to find a combination that
produces the best
groundspeed.
Diving compasses make good
paramotor compasses, designed for
easy reading they have useful
graduations. You can hang them
from your harness or wear them
like a watch.

Learning how to use the thing is

important, the methods are not
immediately intuitive but simple
enough given a little practice.

Average the groundspeed on each leg,

add them then divide by 3.

[7]
Google Earth can be used to familiarize yourself with the features and terrain
that you are going to fly over.

[8]

BUILDING
What makes a good
landmark?
Railway lines, motor-ways,
rivers and lakes. Terrain can,
but sometimes if it is not well
defined, it passes false
messages.
The more prominent the road
the better. Population centers
like town and cities are good,
though very large areas of
habitation can confuse.
Try to relate two or three
landmarks to each other
when confirming a waypoint.
Don’t forget orientation -
which way does the road/
railway line travel?
Test your assumptions,
ask yourself questions like,
“If that is X, there should be
a mast over there and a
railway line over there…”
Then find them.
Flight Planning
That is just a quick sketch
across the some of the related
subject matter we need to
be aware of when using charts
and planning.
It is the translation of this
knowledge into a system to use
in the air that forms the
challenge. How does it all fit
together?
Before we start it is worth noting
that the sister subjects that
surround navigation, Air Law
and Meteorology are tightly
interwoven into flight planning.
Self study in these areas
provides dividends.
Drift & Groundspeed
As a fish swims through water,
craft that fly move through a
block of air. That block is
generally moving as it forms part
of the atmosphere and weather
system that flows in its unique
patterns around our hemisphere.
Understanding how our craft’s
passage across the earth’s
surface is influenced by the wind
is key to many aspects of flying.
Misinterpret what is happening
while drifting in a turn near the
ground and you may embarrass
yourself by mishandling your
wing.
[9]
With navigation planning, apply
drift in the wrong direction and
fail to pick up the error - where
will that lead you?
Imagine that you extended
the worlds longest pen vertically
beneath your paramotor to the
ground. With a gently breeze
blowing at your level as you fly,
the line that it would draw
across the earth would be
traveling in a quite different
direction to the one you are
pointing. Equally, the tip of that
pen may well be drawing its line
at a different speed to the speed
that you are traveling through
the air. That last paragraph is
worth pondering on for a
moment as the concept is very
important.
Drift angle is the angular
difference between the direction
your craft is pointing and the
direction you are actually
traveling across the ground.
With a brisk wind aloft, the drift
angle that you experience at
paramotoring airspeeds can be
enormous.
For example, a PPG cruising at
20 kts TAS with a crosswind
blowing at ninety degrees to PPG
heading at 10 kts strength, is
going to produce a maximum
drift angle of thirty degrees.
Continued:

Drift - continued:
This will in turn reduce your
ground speed significantly as
the craft is now nosing into
wind to offset the drift angle
and fly the track.
Increase that ninety degree
crosswind to thirty knots and
the drift generated is ninety
degrees.... which means you
will be pointing directly into
wind and traveling backwards at
around ten knots.
Cross country flight is not really
a sensible prospect if the wind
at altitude is much above 15
knots unless you are flying
downwind and have no plans to
return by paramotor.
As if we didn’t know it, our
sport is one for the quiet calm
of the early mornings and
evenings or exceptional days of
anti-cyclonic stillness, not one
conceived for going places in a
hurry. The wind makes a great
friend when blowing with us,
and an implacable enemy when
blowing in our face.
W/V
I hope that helps develop an
appreciation of the planning
practicalities and the limitations
of cross country flight under a
ripstop nylon wing.
The sections that follow will deal
with the physical practice of
navigating your PPG.
Conclusion
On the wings of the wind.
If the wind at the surface is
blowing at 12 knots, the
2000’ wind is likely to be
blowing at around 20 knots.
Much above that and you
are in for a rough ride into
the air, and a fast ride
downwind.
Wind direction ‘veers ,‘
moves clockwise as altitude
increasing away from the
surface.
[10]
 PRACTICAL
PPG PILOT NAVIGATION
We have covered a little
theory, not all of it of course,
just enough for a insight. Your
self study reference sources and
ingenuity will fill in the gaps. We
are concerned here with building
an understanding of the
navigation process rather than
dealing with the minutia of the
science.
This section is the part that
anyone who has not formalized
their navigation technique might
find useful.
of our training. To fully
understand the navigation
process it is necessary to deal
with the fundamentals in
isolation and work with them in
learning basic technique.
GPS is a superb tool and it is
likely that the moment you
decided to go flying, you
realized that you had to have
one of these devices. Why would
you want to leave it on the
ground?
applied the forecast wind for the
day. You emerge with a plan
which is effectively your best
guess to achieve your objective.
During the planning process you
have collected information that
you can use with your GPS -
more later.
You then fly your plan, find
reality aloft and make
corrections to allow for it -
thereby testing the weather
forecasters crystal ball.

In the air There is a middle way. If we

Sitting out there in the breeze
means that anything not tied
down gets blown away
eventually, probably through the
prop. The less there is to use,
the less there is to carry,
restrain or lose. Ideally we
would have just a map in a case
or cover and little else bar a
china-graph pencil for notes, a
compass and perhaps a GPS.
Your map has areas on it that
don’t really interest you as they
are either simply not visible or
won’t be flown near. These areas
provide a surface that you
can write across.
Before we talk about that, let’s
just look at a few areas that
raise questions in peoples
minds.
GPS
It is here to stay. I used to think
that the techniques being taught
for pilot navigation aboard light
aircraft should exclude GPS
initially. I still hold the view that
the basics of pilot navigation
without the use of GPS or radio
aids should be held as the focus
develop techniques that are
not wholly reliant on GPS but
utilize the high quality data that
it has to offer, we can fly
without fear of its loss. If that
event leaves us only marginally
worse off then we can be sure
we have the best of both worlds.
To recap - Map Reading is…
For local flying and short hops
across a familiar route to our
mate’s field for tea and buns or
puttering around our local
manor.
DR Navigation is… We fly within an
means being able to follow a ocean of air that
desired route and predict where moves as does a river.
you will end up and when -
given the forecast wind and To row straight from
known aircraft performance. bank to bank one must
allow for the speed of
‘Sounds like a good idea doesn’t the flow by aiming
it? The process revolves around upstream.
planning and measuring to get
the non variables like magnetic So it is with flight, our
track between points on your progress is forever
route and the distances between governed by the wind.
those ‘waypoints’ - points that
you pass on the way.
To this ‘firm’ information is

[11]
How do I estimate & allow for
the wind - Drift.
“Surface wind is magnetic, everything else
above is True”.
Wind direction (from where it blows) is expressed
in degrees True as it is above the surface wind
(this is the convention on aeronautical reports and
forecasts). We work during calculation with
Magnetic values so you will need to convert wind
directions from True to Magnetic by applying
variation to them.
Now, here is an idea for you to remember…
We will assume that our paramotors cruise at
a nominal 20 knots.
“A paramotor is a 3 times machine”
Why? What does that mean?
The effect that the wind has on an aircraft in light
reduces as aircraft speed increases.
The maximum drift that can be experienced will be the 1000’ wind is 328.5º (M). Call that 330º.
felt when the wind is at 90º to your track, but how This places the wind 30º off the nose to our left so
do we quantify this Max Drift?
[Reach for your calculator - the maths
doesn’t last long].
Max Drift = 60 X wind velocity (knots)
TAS (knots)
So ~ 60 divided by our TAS of 20kts = 3
3 X 10kts wind velocity (10kts as an example) =
30º drift - that being the maximum drift that the
wind can throw at you at that particular wind
strength (10 kts).
Stay with me........ given that our paramotors
cruise at a nominal 20 knots, we are ‘3 times the
wind for maximum drift machines’ ~ easy?
EG: So if the wind is 15 knots at 90º to our
track,we steer 45º of that track in the direction of
the wind to hold our required track.
We don’t experience ‘Max Drift’ unless the wind is
at 90º to our track. The wind can come from
anywhere. We need to estimate what proportion
of this ‘Max Drift’ will affect us on the track we will
be flying. To do this we use the ‘*Clock Code’.
*Called the ‘clock code’ because of the
relationship of the numbers to segments
of the hour. 15º = ¼, 30º = ½, 45º = ¾
Eg: The wind is 15º off the required track from the
left? The wind is blowing against us but not really
creating that much drift. 15º off = one quarter of
Max Drift (look at the diagram below - see if that
last statement makes sense).
New problem
Let’s say our track Track from A to B is 360º (M).
From the forecast we estimate our wind at 1000’
agl to be blowing from 325/15 knots (True if based
on the guess from the 2000’ wind remember).
Magnetic variation is assessed from the chart at
3.5º West. That means the Magnetic direction of
we will be drifting right... but by how much?
“We are a 3 X paramotor.” Our Max Drift will be
3 X wind velocity being experienced.
Max Drift = 3 X 15 = 45º
The wind is from 30º on our left - that will produce
half of the possible Max Drift in the air (clock
code) = 22.5º = 25º for cash.
So I steer say 335º M to hold my 360º M track.
This might seem like a bit to wrap your brain
around but it becomes surprisingly easy with
practice. Better - it requires no computer bar the
grey one in your head which is good enough for
the very imprecise headings we can hold in the
PPG game.
[12]
What about the wind’s
effect on my
groundspeed?
Given that you have a good idea
from the forecast of the wind’s
angle off from your track and its
speed, use the table provided
in Annex 1 to establish your
planned groundspeed.
You can print off, encapsulate
and keep the graphic behind
your map case cover for
reference.
Start out with the ‘quarter mill’
chart. You have already had a
little practice at drawing lines
between your departure,
waypoint and destination,
measuring the true tracks Tr(T)
then converting them to
magnetic Trk(M). Distance
measurement using a ruler is
simple, make sure you use the
correct scale.
Now, on a ‘quarter mill’ map the
top joint of your thumb should
approximate five nautical miles -
try it. You now have a ruler for Look between departure and
use in the air and a useful
crosschecks
destination for considerations
that might cause you to consider
an indirect route. See anything?
NavEx. 1:250,000 Chart We have a wind-farm, an area of
Sheet 7. intense gliding activity and a
Let’s plan a short cross country large mast to avoid, but our
flight from Bourne Park just track line looks reasonable on a
North of Andover to the village of direct route if visibility is good
Uffington which is five (NM) and our navigation is reasonably
miles West of Wantage. You have sharp. We have a couple of
a friend with a field just North of micro-light airfields to watch out
the village. You have checked it for as they might be operating -
out on Google Earth and decided but let’s go direct.
that if you find Uffington, his
field should be easy to locate. Track True - Trk (T) = 352º
Distance NM = 21 (20.5 really)
Tip: Google Earth is useful for Variation = 3º W (2.5 really)
establishing positions to load into
your GPS. Look to the bottom of Take a little time to become
the main GE page when you are familiar with the abbreviations
tracking your mouse over the used in the table below.
surface. Stop your mouse over
your departure or waypoint and Recap the relationship between
note down the Lat/Long. The Magnetic and True North.
format loads straight into your
GPS if you have set it up
(preferences) to accept WGS84
position formats. Thats one to
get your head around later.

1:40
25 330 100
kts mins
25
We now have the basis of a plan, measure accurately but record distance and heading to the nearest mile
and five degrees. It isn’t possible with the instrumentation that we have to fly the plan any more
accurately than that but there is nothing wrong with getting the basics recorded correctly. What really
matters is applying your allowances and adjustments in the correct direction, and developing a clear
overview of what you are doing.

• Draw the line on your chart between the two points in felt tip or china-graph. A thin, distinct line.
• Now halve and quarter that line and mark those points.
• Now measure back from Uffington and place distance markers at the quarter and half points

Now you have a GPS range countdown from start to destination. You can watch yourself march down the
line as you GPS counts down your range to destination. if you are ‘on track’ you can instantly fix your
position if you have entered waypoints into your unit.

You will mark the planned Track and distance on your chart where you won’t obscure detail - they will
come in handy later. Look at the map in Appendix 2 and figure out the layout on the right of the track
line.

[13]
 effect the wind is having you will experience, small
Time - Distance - Speed on your progress. changes in the wind
instantaneously affect
You are DR Navigating, if you want to know GPS is an effective the ETA’s calculated by
where you are, you look at your watch first. distractor, at the very your GPS.
Sounds odd, funny even - but it is true. time you need to be
looking out - setting Don’t be surprised to see
After setting course and noting the time, if heading, noting the time the times vary by quite a
you hold your planned heading and fly your and assessing drift and few minutes during flight.
planned cruise speed, you should cross the groundspeed, some By comparing the two
ground at close to your planned rate.
people are gazing sets of derived figures,
lovingly at their tiny manual and electronic,
At any time thereafter, you look to your
watch to find out where you are. Or rather to screen. Forget it! Stay you will develop a
confirm where you should be - you adjust safe and get the primary broader understanding of
the planning to the reality by looking for tasks out of the way by what you are trying to
ground features to support the story that following the steps achieve. Navigation is not
your watch assures you should be true. above. a precise art when
paramotoring.
That is the essence of Dead Reckoning as it Even the most basic GPS
is called. Anything else is map reading but units will deliver track KEEP A GOOD
without the watch, there is rather a lot of and groundspeed, ensure LOOKOUT!
map to read and ground features to compare
that the units being used
before you find yourself. What your watch
by the GPS are the ones If the GPS now fails you
does it show you where best to look to
find yourself! you used when planning. have a plan thats
Once established on updated and validated by
So dear navigator, set your watch to the track visually, take a look your GPS before it failed.
correct time and be dilligent about noting at the GPS track and You are using basic DR
them down as you pass your waypoints, groundspeed. These are navigation and
because they will tell you a story - if you are the real numbers you are supplementing it with
prepared to read it. ‘making good’. Do they the GPS, not blindly
agree roughly with your following the device.
ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival planning? That is sound practice
Remember that because and good airmanship.
Now given the 2000’ Draw on your map the TAS is so close to the
wind of 330/10 (ºT) you typical wind velocities
can estimate what your Produce ‘cue’ boxes that
heading (ºM) should be reproduce your planning
to fly up your track line. data for use and as a The psychology of early
There will be some effect reminder (see the chart navigation exercises.
on your groundspeed, it reproduction in Annex 2
will be reduced slightly for detail). It is no mean feat to launch and leave your flying
but again you can field behind for the first time. You might feel a
estimate it to ensure After setting course you dead cat lying in your stomach, it was inserted
that you have sufficient note the time and mark by evolution to sharpen your senses and
fuel and a prudent promote vigilance.
up your chart with ETA’s.
reserve before you take After reaching your first It seems to hold true for the most of us that the
off. ‘quarter point’ you can moment we lose sight of our home field the
do a sum and refine your world will shift and we will become lost.
Your groundspeed will be destination ETA. Mark Thankfully this is not so, but only if you follow
around 13kts and total your preparation and training - and use sound
through your ETA’s at practice.
flight time around 100 the other quarters on
mins. Drift angle around the way. You can do this Find yourself humming down your planned track
25º. Again, the figures without GPS, or more with your timings working out fine and you will
are only ballpark, but accurately with it as the discover that the world below really does match
they need to be applied it is doing the sum based the one printed on your chart. When that
in the correct direction. on actual ground happens a state of euphoria may begin to
speeds. You can make a suffuse your spirit. You realize that you’ve just
direct comparison with joined the ranks of those who can navigate their
your calculated still air craft through the air - don’t be surprised if you
burst into song.
time to discover what

[14]

THE WIDE BLUE
Between the earth’s surface
and the satellite
constellation in the heavens
lies your reality, don’t lose
sight of it by spending too
much time staring at that
little screen, the picture
around you is far more
interesting, it is the reason
you are there in the first
place.
General points When you have settled in the
cruise, snap a peek at your GPS
groundspeed; how close is it to
Learn the methods provided here your planned figure?
and apply them. Be rigorous in If it is higher than your TAS you
using your technique. After have a tailwind, if you were
getting airborne understand that expecting a headwind there will
you have a job to do beyond be implications for your ETA’s.
enjoying the countryside. As you Get the idea? Is a picture of how
climb, organize your cockpit so to run your ‘flight deck’ starting
that above all you’re comfortable to form?
and your kit is secure.
Make sure that non-essential Having left the departure point,
items are stowed, and that look along the direction of travel,
everything you need like can you see your next check
compass, radios, GPS, water and point yet, does the watch tell you
food are accessible. how far you have to go? The
Climb clear of the circuit then fly features that identify that point
overhead your departure field at should roll beneath you at close
cruise altitude, have your speed to the planned time, if they don’t
bar and trimmers set, turn onto it doesn’t mean you are lost. It
your first heading - note the may mean that your
time. interpretation of the world you
Settle down on heading as see outside and that on your
accurately as you can, note the chart are not quite in sync.
relationship between the Check your technique, ensure
direction in which you are that your map is correctly
pointing and the track you are oriented and check again your
following across the ground. timings.
Get a feel for that relationship, it AGAIN, remember, the direction
will give you an early clue about you are pointing isn’t necessarily
the accuracy of the forecast wind the direction you are traveling,
that may be useful later. look once more at Jeff Goin’s
boots in the graphic on page 8.
Make sure your map is
aligned in the direction that Tip: Keep the wing level and you
you are traveling - down your will not turn. Frequent checking
track, that way the world on the of ground features to confirm
chart is presented to you in the that you are seeing what you
same way as the real world expect at the time you expect it
beneath - they compliment each confirms your plan is working.
other. Orientation is very important -
work to achieve it and keep
building on it.
[15]
NOW WHAT?
There is no need to rush out and
fly long distances to strange
lands, become really familiar
with your local area first. Then
fly a couple of decent length
local map reading exercises that
take you away from the flying
field and the area that you are
completely familiar with.
When the time and the weather
are right, take that navigation
exercise out of your bag, the one and radio by chatting to a couple
that you have been planning for
ages with easily identifiable
turning points and terrain
markers that will make it a
pleasure to fly.
Despite the ease you may
experience map reading your
way around that route, plan it as Good Luck!
a navigation exercise and fly it
as such. Be thorough with your
preparation, don’t rush the
process, remain methodical and
calm during the run-up to the
trip. Ensure that you are
properly hydrated before you go to pass comment, please feel
(and that you don’t need a pee
either).
encouragement that may
validate or even modify what
you are about to do. It’s
always reassuring to have
someone to run your plan
past.
As your confidence and ability
builds you can plan
progressively more
adventurous flights, include
stops away and perhaps even
try out your new RT license Knowledge
dispels fear
of ATC units as you pass them
by.
Steps like these go a long way to
helping you become a well
rounded aviator.
Norman
thedigitalaviator@mac.com
If you find any errors or want
free.

Never be too proud to ask advice

about any aspect of your flight
from an instructor or other
experienced pilots. They have
been in exactly the same
position themselves and may
even have words of advice and

Health Warning
All the advise and guidance given here is
provided in good faith. If you have any
issue with anything written, please let me
Copyright©2009 Norman Rhodes
know using the email address provded.
I will ALWAYS answer your query.

[16]
[17]
 17:50
100

:75
Planned
17:25

Actual
17:00 :50

16:35 :25
330

100

16:10
Set Heading

This graphic is not to scale.

Mark up your chart in a manner that suits you, but start by using these suggested symbols. On the right you have the
planned figures. These don’t change and are useful for in-flight reference. Trk (M) for example is the track that you need to
see on your GPS (once established on your required track) to follow your desired track to Uffington.
The distance countdown to the right (DTG) should be your reducing distance as you fly toward Uffington.

To the far left we have pre calculated heading and time. That time having been divided into four and split across the
‘quarters.’ Next to the quarters is the elapsed time to each quarter. Just left of them you have your en-route ETA’s
calculated after you set heading overhead Bourne.

Everything you need for DR navigation and assistance from even the simplest GPS is right in front of you.
This method for navigation works very well for paramotor and very much higher speeds.

[18]