How do pilots know to reach their destination??

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Have you ever wondered how pilots they guide themselves in the air to reach their destination?, How can they see where they are going if they are inside the clouds? Well today we will clear up these doubts.

In this installment we are going to resolve several doubts that you may have about how the aviation, in the simplest way possible.

Post written by: Captain Rudolph Star
FAA Commercial Pilot
Twitter: @rodo_estrella

First of all, We must take into account that the pilots We do courses that allow us to be trained for certain types of flights, these are: visual flights or instrument flights, These degrees allow us to obtain a license or also called "ratings.".

How do pilots know how to get to their destination?

For a visual flight, as his word says, the pilot arrives at its destination using references on the ground, cities, pueblos, rivers or any reference that allows you to recognize your location, The pilot must fly in meteorological conditions that allow him to clearly observe these points and must not fly in the middle of clouds., It also flies with a navigation chart where it can recognize landmarks on the ground..

When it comes to instrument flight (common on commercial flights), the story is very different, Pilots are trained in how to fly using the aircraft's instruments without the need to use visual or terrain references and allow us to fly in meteorological conditions where said visual references may not be observable..

For it, The most basic navigation systems are radio navigation systems based on ground-based aids., sounds complicated, but it is actually a simple method that has been used for decades.

radio navigation

For this system we must know that the pilots in their plane have VHF radio equipment, that receives very high frequency radio signals originating from fixed earth stations. The most used is the station BEFORE O (Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range) by its acronym in English or Omnidirectional Radio Beacon, This is a fixed transmitting station located on the ground that transmits a wave in a frequency band that is captured by the airplane's instruments and allows us to guide ourselves to it through a certain radial or course., to understand it easier, if we were flying north, tuned to a VOR that is right in front of us, we would be flying with course 360 towards the station or failing that on the radial 180 from VOR station. These stations also often offer distance information to or from it..

Here an example, The plane has the Condorcocha VOR tuned to Quito with radio frequency 115.3 MHz. The aircraft's instruments determine its position with respect to the station, either towards (in approach) or since (in distance). In addition to the example, An aircraft may approach or depart toward or away from the VOR station on any course or radial, The instruments will indicate whether the aircraft is on course or will also indicate course deviations to correct. A) Yes:

 

 

We have already seen how the plane orients itself with respect to ground stations, However, between ground stations, lines are drawn that, They connect stations with imaginary but identifiable stations or reference points through radials and distances from the stations, These sections are called Aerovías and are the “Avenues” along which planes travel to their destinations..

as we see, there is an airway called G(golf)675 between the Condorcocha VOR and the Ipiales VOR, thus forming the instrumental route that must be followed to fly between the two points. This airway is the route that is in the flight plan and that is known and authorized by air traffic control that will monitor the flight of the aircraft and/or give relevant instructions en route..

In this case, from Condorcocha to ipiales, The pilot selects the Condorcocha VOR frequency on his radio 115.3 and on his navigation instrument course 047 degrees if you keep the needle centered, will remain on the airway away from the VOR towards Ipiales, Halfway, you can select the Ipiales VOR frequently 113.6 and will have an indication of course and distance to that station.

Now, since traffic conditions especially between large cities are usually very great, arrival procedures have been developed, approach and departure with the objective of reducing the communications load and standardizing routes, also providing safe separation from the terrain, in that way, Pilots can choose departure or arrival routes that allow them to arrive in the safest way with the least workload. These routes and procedures are connected to navigation points like those mentioned above.. For instance:

as we see, This is an instrument approach to the city of Quito, The initial point of the approach is the Condorcocha Quito VOR that we met previously. This route takes us to the interception of a signal called ILS for a final approach to the runway with lateral and vertical guidance when visibility conditions are reduced. There are types of approaches that even allow arrival with visibility! 0!

Finally, The most modern aircraft use much more advanced navigation systems such as navigation using satellite guidance., with these systems, aircraft may not use ground-based radio aids and use imaginary reference points located with satellite geographic reference, as well as using more complex departure or approach procedures, where terrestrial reference points would not be identifiable. What's more, Its visualization is presented in the cockpit on navigation screens that show the pilots in detail the route and position followed by the aircraft., let's see an example:

 

here on the left, we can see an approach guided by GPS and on the right the procedure on the airplane navigation screen, In this case, The autopilot will follow each of the points respecting the conditions of the procedure, as well as the entire previous route, including departure and all airways used.

Thus, is that planes and their crews fly within what we call “Airspace.”, where all aircraft comply with rules and regulations, procedures and regulations, that make us reach our destination safely. This is in a basic way how pilots navigate to destinations.

Obviously, There are many other conditions and requirements for navigation, for which pilots receive continuous training to stay current on their skills, as well as a lot of time is dedicated to studying the rules and regulations that the aeronautical authority requires for safe navigation..

Visual and instrumental navigation are techniques that are learned from the beginning of the pilot studies stage., and is applied daily in the operation of aircraft, Fortunately, the most modern technologies have greatly increased security., have reduced the workload of pilots and, above all, They help us have better situational awareness, making aviation the safest way to travel.

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