Pass the ATPL Navigation Exam with ease!

ATPL Navigation (ANAV) is a fairly unique subject.

At one end, you are learning technical theory such as radio propagation, radar, GNSS, INS and IRS. At the other, you are drawing lines on charts, calculating winds, determining ETAs and working through ETPs and Latest Points of Safe Diversion.

The good news is that ANAV is a very predictable exam once you understand what is expected of you.

Having just finished another ANAV ground school, here are some of the biggest things I think students should know before sitting the CASA exam.

What Does the ANAV Exam Look Like?

The exam is roughly 70% theory and 30% practical calculation or map work.

There are 26 questions, with the practical questions generally carrying more marks. You can expect approximately two three-mark questions and around six two-mark questions, although the exact makeup can vary.

The larger questions may involve:

• an in-flight wind calculation;
• an ETP or off-track CP;
• a Latest Point of Safe Diversion; or
• another multi-stage navigation problem.

The important point is not to become so focused on the big calculations that you neglect the theory.

An LPSD question might take an entire page of working, while a theory question takes ten seconds. But there are considerably more theory questions.

Know the practical procedures well, then make sure you know the theory too.

ANAV Tests More Than Navigation

I like to think of ANAV as navigating in four dimensions.

You need to understand your position on the Earth’s surface through latitude, longitude, tracks, distances, bearings and map projections.

You also need to understand the vertical dimension through pressure, temperature, true altitude and true height.

Then there is time.

You need to be comfortable with UTC, Local Mean Time and Local Standard Time, including flights that cross time zones or dates.

At ATS, we generally bring everything back to UTC, perform the calculation there and then convert the answer as required. It keeps things much simpler.

Read the Question Carefully

The theory itself isn’t normally particularly difficult.

The challenge is the wording.

CASA can give you several answers that all sound plausible. You need to read exactly what each answer says rather than choosing the one that simply sounds the most technical.

This is particularly important in topics such as radar, radio navigation, GNSS, INS and IRS.

Don’t simply memorise questions and answers.

Understand why the correct answer is correct.

Expect to Derive Information

One of the biggest differences between ANAV and simpler navigation exercises is that the exam often doesn’t give you the exact information you need.

You might need a true track but be given magnetic.

You might need TAS but be given CAS, altitude and temperature.

You might therefore have to work through something like:

Magnetic Track → True Track → Calculation → Convert Back to Magnetic

Or:

CAS → Mach → TAS → Wind → Groundspeed → Time

None of those individual steps is particularly difficult.

The skill is recognising which steps you need and doing them in the correct order.

Once that becomes automatic, ANAV becomes considerably easier.

Know Speed, Distance and Time

You will constantly use:

Speed = Distance ÷ Time

Distance = Speed × Time

Time = Distance ÷ Speed

The mathematics is simple, but errors are common when students use the wrong units or become too focused on the calculation.

Always ask yourself whether the answer makes sense.

If an aircraft travelling at 100 knots apparently takes two hours to travel 50 NM, something has gone wrong.

Get Comfortable With Your Tools

Your whiz wheel and ERC should feel routine before exam day.

You may need the whiz wheel several times during an exam, particularly for wind calculations and conversions involving CAS, Mach and TAS.

You should also be comfortable using the ERC to:

• plot positions;
• measure tracks;
• measure distances;
• convert chart measurements into nautical miles; and
• use those values in later calculations.

Accuracy matters.

Small errors early in a question can carry through into everything that follows.

For plotting, I generally recommend using a cheap millimetre ruler rather than a navigation ruler. It allows you to be a little more precise.

ETPs, PNRs and LPSD

These calculations have a reputation for being some of the hardest parts of ANAV.

They don’t need to be.

Once you understand what you are actually trying to achieve, ETPs are relatively straightforward. The graphical procedures for off-track ETPs and Latest Points of Safe Diversion also become much easier once you have practised them properly.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is:

Keep your working neat.

Use the same structure every time.

These questions often require numbers you calculated several steps earlier. If your page is covered in random calculations, it becomes unnecessarily difficult.

A consistent process turns a complicated-looking three-mark question into something repeatable.

How Long Should You Study for ANAV?

Our classroom ANAV course runs for six days, with practice questions incorporated throughout.

By the time the content is finished, students have already completed a significant amount of exam-style practice. We then work through additional practice exams before using the Final Exam as the final readiness check.

The entire process normally takes around seven to eight days.

For someone studying independently full-time, I would allow approximately 10 days.

If you’re working full-time and studying around work, around two weeks is a reasonable target.

Everyone learns differently, so these aren’t hard limits.

Your results should ultimately determine when you’re ready, not the number of days on the calendar.

Use Practice Exams Properly

Don’t wait until you’ve finished every page of theory before attempting questions.

Questions should be part of the learning process.

Study a topic, understand it and then answer questions on it.

This reinforces the knowledge while also teaching you how CASA is likely to examine it.

At ATS, our practice exams are designed to closely represent the style and level of the CASA exam, with the Final Exam acting as the final readiness check.

When Are You Ready to Sit?

I’d be looking for consistent scores above 80%.

But don’t just look at the percentage.

Look at why you lost the remaining marks.

If you got a theory question wrong, can you now explain why?

If you got a practical question wrong, can you redo it correctly?

Quite often, the mistake isn’t a lack of knowledge. It might be:

• using magnetic instead of true;
• forgetting to convert minutes into hours;
• converting chart distances incorrectly;
• using the wrong temperature sign; or
• simply pressing the wrong buttons on the calculator.

Those mistakes are useful during practice because they show you exactly what you need to watch for during the real exam.

Ideally, you should be achieving your practice scores on your first attempt, rather than repeating the same exam until you remember the answers.

Is Time Management a Problem?

Usually, no.

ANAV is a 90-minute exam, but well-prepared students generally have enough time to complete the questions and check their work.

There isn’t a complicated exam strategy required.

If you prefer completing the large-mark questions first, that’s fine.

If you prefer working from Question 1 through to Question 26, that’s also fine.

Do whatever keeps you organised.

Most importantly, focus on the question in front of you rather than continually reading ahead.

Final Tips for Passing ATPL Navigation

If you’re preparing for the CASA ATPL Navigation exam:

Understand the theory. Don’t underestimate it because the calculations look harder.

Read the wording carefully. Several answers may sound correct.

Know your whiz wheel. Particularly the wind side.

Get comfortable with the ERC. Plotting and measuring should become routine.

Practise CAS, Mach and TAS conversions. Recognise what information you’ve been given and how to obtain what you need.

Keep your calculations organised. Particularly for ETP, PNR and LPSD questions.

Watch your units. Magnetic versus true, minutes versus hours, millimetres versus nautical miles and positive versus negative temperatures can all cost marks.

Keep the big picture in mind. If your answer doesn’t make sense, check your working.

Do plenty of practice questions. They teach you both the content and how that content is examined.

And finally, let your practice exams tell you when you’re ready.

ANAV covers a lot of material, but it doesn’t need to be an intimidating subject.

Learn the theory, develop consistent procedures, become comfortable with your tools and complete enough practice that the individual steps start to become automatic.

Once that happens, Navigation becomes much less about remembering dozens of separate procedures and much more about simply working out:

Where am I? Where am I going? How fast am I getting there? And when will I arrive?