Radio Navigation

The electromagnetic spectrum, wavelength/frequency/velocity, phase and polarisation — the physical basis of all radio navigation.

Ground, sky and space waves, surface attenuation, ionospheric refraction, critical angle, skip distance, fading and the factors affecting range.

Amplitude and frequency modulation, sidebands, bandwidth, keying and the carrier/intelligence relationship used by nav aids.

Antenna principles, dipoles and directional arrays, polar diagrams, gain and the aerials used by ground and airborne equipment.

The Doppler shift principle, beam geometry, drift and groundspeed measurement, and Doppler navigation system operation.

VDF principles, QDM/QDR/QTE/QUJ bearings, classes of bearing accuracy, range and operational use.

NDB and ADF principles, the loop and sense aerials, relative/magnetic bearings, RMI, errors and factors affecting accuracy and range.

VOR principle of operation, reference and variable phases, radials, Doppler VOR, cockpit display/CDI, errors, coverage and designated operational range.

Instrument Landing System — localiser, glidepath, marker beacons, categories, coverage, false glidepaths and ILS errors and limitations.

Microwave Landing System — principle of operation, coverage, advantages over ILS and the reasons it never replaced it.

Pulse radar theory — PRF, PRP, pulse width, maximum/minimum range, range resolution, the radar equation and factors affecting radar performance.

Area surveillance radar, terminal/approach radar, surface movement radar — frequencies, ranges and ATC use of primary ground radars.

AWR functions, weather and mapping modes, cosecant-squared beam, tilt management, colour returns, windshear/turbulence detection and operating precautions.

Secondary Surveillance Radar — interrogation modes A/C/S, transponder codes, advantages over primary radar, and Mode S datalink.

Distance Measuring Equipment — twin-pulse interrogation, slant range, frequency pairing with VOR/ILS, station identification and accuracy.

RNAV principles, 2D/3D/4D systems, B-RNAV and P-RNAV, RNP, waypoint navigation and the inputs an RNAV computer uses.

Electronic Flight Information System — EADI/EHSI displays, map/plan/rose modes, colour conventions and the symbology shown in each mode.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems — GPS/GLONASS/Galileo segments, position fixing, errors, RAIM, and augmentation (SBAS/GBAS/ABAS).

Full-syllabus Radio Navigation revision bank — 243 exam-style questions with answers covering every chapter of the book.

One-stop quick-reference summary — frequencies, bands, ranges and key numbers for every radio navigation aid. Ideal last-minute revision.