Chapter 25

Time (2)

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Conversion of Arc (Angle) to Time
• To solve time problems we need to be able to convert angular arcs to
time in hours and minutes.
• Because the Earth rotates 360° in 24 hrs, we can convert angular arc
to time as follows:
• 360° = 24 hrs
• 15° = 1 hour
• 1° = 4 minutes
• 15’ of a degree of arc = 1 minute of time
• 15”(seconds of arc) = 1 second of time
• Note: You are only required to work to the

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• Note: You are only required to work to the nearest minute of time.
Conversion of angular arc to time can be achieved using the table on
the last page of the Air Almanac extract.
• Angular arcs from 0° to 360° are converted to hours and minutes of
time in the first 5 columns.
• The final column is used to convert minutes of angular arc into minutes
and seconds of time.

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Muhaned Gilani General Navigation
• Example:
• Convert 137°36’ of arc to time. Use the arc/time table.
• 137° of arc converts to 9 hours 08 minutes of time.
• 36’ of arc converts to 2 minutes 24 seconds
• The final solution is, 9 hours 10 minutes and 24 seconds,

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• You may not have the arc/time page from the Air Almanac.
• In this case, you must calculate the arc to time conversion.
• In most cases, the arc of longitude will be in whole degrees.
• Example 1:
• Convert 127° of arc into time.
• Divide 127° by 15 = 8.4667 hours
• The answer is now in hours and decimals of hours but the question
may required the answer to be in hours and minutes
• Convert the decimals of hours (.4667) to minutes by multiplying by 60
- .4667 × 60 = 28
• Answer: 8 hours 28 minutes

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Local Mean Time
• The Earth rotates daily around its geographic axis, anticlockwise if
observed from above the North Pole.
• It is convenient sometimes to consider the Earth as stationary and the
Sun travelling around the Earth once a day in a clockwise direction.
• This alternative fits well with our perception that the Sun rises in the
East and sets in the West.
• For further discussions, this alternative will be used and, unless
otherwise stated, the Sun referred to is the ‘mean’ Sun.
• When the mean Sun transits (crosses) a particular meridian, the Local
Mean Time (LMT) at all places on that meridian is 1200 hrs (midday,
noon).
• Similarly, when the mean Sun transits the anti-meridian of a point, the
LMT at the point is 0000hrs ,2400 hrs or midnight.

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• At the 180° meridian, the LMT date changes by a day although the
LMT time remains the same.
• Thus:
• Travelling westward across the 180° meridian, the LMT date
increases by one day.
• Travelling eastward across the 180° meridian, the LMT date
decreases by one day.

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Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC)
• Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) changes at a constant rate and is
regulated against International Atomic Time (IAT) derived from atomic
clocks. (error of only 1 second in up to 100 million years)
• UTC is regularly corrected to match GMT (the LMT at the Greenwich
Meridian) but the corrections are very small.
• For all practical navigation purposes, UTC equals GMT.
• UTC is the datum for world time.
• Longitude east, UTC least (less advanced)
• Longitude west, UTC best (more advanced)

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• Example:
• Find the UTC if the LMT in Cairo (longitude 30E) is 0900 hours.
• LMT Cairo 0900
• Arc/Time (Long.30E) - 0200
• UTC =0700 (UTC LEAST)

• Example:
• Find the LMT in Berlin (longitude 13E) if the UTC is 1345 hours.
• UTC 1345 (UTC LEAST)
• Arc/Time + 0052
• LMT Berlin = 1437 (Long. East)

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Local Mean Time/UTC Problems
• Note that in basic LMT problems, the latitude is unimportant.
• For instance, all points on the 75W meridian have the same LMT.
• This example includes Ottawa (Canada), Philadelphia (USA), Kingston
(Jamaica), Bogota (Colombia) and Lima (Peru).

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• Example 2
• If it is 1012 UTC on 15 Dec at 50N 030W, what is the LMT in:
• Singapore (00°30’N 105°00’E)
D H M
15 10 12 UTC
Arc/Time 105°E +7
LMT Singapore (long. E, UTC least) 15 17 12 LMT

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Zone Time (ZT)
• Although UTC is the worldwide time datum for aviation purposes, it has
little civil use far from the Greenwich meridian.
• Zone Time was based on the fact that the Sun transits 15 degrees in
one hour.
• The datum for the Zone Time system was the Greenwich Meridian
(0E/W).
• All ships within longitudes 7.5W and 7.5E would keep a Zone Time the
same as GMT (UTC).
• The correction from Zone Time to GMT (UTC) would be zero.

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 Zone time

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• Earth divided into 25 zones of 15° longitude (1 hour), except the 2
semi-zones M & Y adjacent to the International Date Line.
• Each zone is 7.5° about a central meridian, firstly the Greenwich
Meridian then every 15°.
• Zone time varies from UTC (Z time) by increasing periods of 1 hour
counting east (+) or west (-) from ‘Z’ (eg Singapore = zone G {+7 hr].

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Zone Time Calculations
• You may be required to calculate the zone number for a given
longitude or to convert between Zone Time and UTC.
• To calculate the zone number, divide the longitude given by 15 and
round to the nearest whole number with .5 rounding up.
• Easterly longitudes have negative (minus) zone numbers from -1 to -
12.
• Westerly longitudes have positive (plus) zone numbers form +1 to
+12. Remember, the zone number is applied to the Zone Time to give
UTC.
• To convert from UTC to Zone Time, the +/- signs need to be reversed.

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• These rules can be confusing and it may be easier to remember:
• If it’s midday in London, it’s evening in the Far East and morning in the
Wild West.
• Mathematically:
UTC = Zone Time + Zone Number
• Example 1
What is the zone number for position A, 40S 137E, and position B,
60°00’N 097°30’W?
Note: latitude is irrelevant in these cases.
Position A Zone number = 137° ÷ 15
= 9.13 hrs
= 9 hrs (rounded to nearest whole number).

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• Longitude E is negative
• Zone Number of position A = -9
• Position B Longitude 097°30’W = 97.5W
• Zone number = 97.5 ÷ 15 = 6.5 hrs
= 7 hrs (.5s round up)

• Longitude W is positive
• Zone Number of position B = +7

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Standard Time
• Zone Time (ZT) gives a convenient standard for ships at sea, keeping
the hours of the day approximately synchronized with daylight and
darkness.
• However, the system would not be appropriate for use on land.
• For example, the 7.5E longitude line runs through the middle of
Nigeria - it would be inconvenient if western Nigeria kept a time 1 hour
in advance of eastern Nigeria.
• Similarly, Local Mean Time (LMT) is inappropriate for use in a country
as a standard time.
• For the UK, the Standard Time (ST) is UTC (GMT) at all times of the
year.
• In summer, we adjust our clocks forward 1 hour and refer to the time
as British Summer Time (BST)

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• Each country nominates its own Standard Time (ST), normally notified
in the Air Almanac as a correction to UTC.
• Clearly, each country aims to fix a Standard Time such that 1200 hr ST
occurs about the middle of the period of light and 0000 hr ST in about
the middle of the period of darkness.
• Thus Standard Time will be close to both Local Mean Time (LMT) and
to Zone Time (ZT) but will not be exactly the same.

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• Standard Time corrections for most countries are listed in the Air
Almanac on pages 1 to 4 inclusive.
• Countries are listed in 3 general areas:
• List 1 (pages 1,2) Countries generally to the east of the Greenwich
meridian.

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• List 2 , Countries close to or on the Greenwich meridian.

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• List 3, Countries generally to the west of the Greenwich meridian

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Summer Time/Daylight Saving Time (DST)
• Some countries in all lists may carry Summer Time or Daylight Saving
Time (DST) (USA) in the summer months.
• This is normally indicated by an asterisk * against the country listed.
• Summer time is normally 1 hour in advance of Standard Time.
• Exam questions will clearly indicate if Summer Time/Daylight Saving
Time corrections are to be applied.

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Standard Time Anomalies
• Remember, Local Mean Time and Zone Time always change by a day at
the 180°E/W meridian.
• Thus, it would be logical to conclude that Standard Time changes by 1
day at the 180°E/W.
• This is not always so!!
• In List 1, Chatham Island (44°S 176°W) approximately 400 NM south-
east of New Zealand, is listed with a correction of 12 hours 45
minutes.
• The island is administered by New Zealand.
• However, it lies in the Western hemisphere whereas New Zealand lies
in the Eastern hemisphere.
• Thus, Chatham Island’s date should be one day earlier than New
Zealand’s date,

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Muhaned Gilani General Navigation
• Example
• Find the LMT in Tokyo, Japan (longitude 140E) if the Standard Time is
1425 hours on the 16th January.
D H M
• Standard Time Tokyo 16th 14 25
• Standard Time Difference (STD) - 09 00 (List 1)
• UTC 16th 05 25
• Arc/Time (Long.East) +9 20 (UTC LEAST)
• LMT Tokyo 16th 14 45

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Summary
• LMT is based on the movement of the mean Sun which travels through
15° of longitude per hour.
• UTC is the LMT on the Greenwich Meridian.
• Difference in LMT at two places is found by finding the difference in
their longitudes and converting it into time at the rate of 15° per hour,
except where the shorter longitudinal arc spans the date line in which
case work through UTC.
• Be prepared to calculate the time equivalent of longitude without using
the Air Almanac.
• Zone Time is in the EASA syllabus. Be prepared to convert longitude
into zone number and to convert between Zone Time and UTC.
• Standard Time is used to prevent the extreme inconvenience of using
LMT on clocks.

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• Standard Time Differences for all countries are found in Lists 1, 2 and
3 in the Air Almanac.
• Conversion of LMT to Standard Time or vice versa is best done through
UTC.
• LMT problems involving an aircraft crossing the International Date Line
are also best done through UTC.

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 End of Chapter 25

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