FLIGHT OPERATIONS

OFFICER (FOO)
REFRESHER TRAINING
RADIO NAVIGATION
&
NAVIGATION AIDS
 INTRODUCTION
Any device external to an aircraft specifically intended to assist navigators in
determining their position or safe course, or to warn them of dangers or
obstructions to navigation.
Aerodrome control towers and units providing approach control service shall
provide information on the operational status of radio navigation services
essential for approach, landing and take-off at the aerodrome(s) with which
they are concerned, on a timely basis consistent with the use of the service(s)
involved.
 INSTRUMENT LANDING SYSTEM – ILS
The ILS is defined as a precision runway approach aid which provides pilots with
both vertical and horizontal guidance during an approach to land.
The instrument landing system (ILS) provides the pilot with:
 Guidance information regarding the approach path derived from the localizer
and the glide slope.
 Range information at significant points along the approach path by marker
beacons or continuous range information from distance measuring equipment
(DME).
 Visual information in the last phase of flight from approach lights, touchdown
and centre line lights, runway lights.
 The ILS consists of:
Localizer:- Provides lateral guidance.
Glide Path:- Provides vertical guidance to the pilot during the approach.
Markers:- Give Pilot a means to determine position along an established route to
a destination.
Outer marker (OM)
MIDDLE MARKER (MM)
DME : Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is normally co-located with glide
path and provides slant distance to the aircraft with respect to touch down point.
The approach lighting system:-Various runway lighting systems serve as integral
parts of the ILS system to aid the pilot in landing. Any or all of the following
lighting systems may be provided at a given facility: approach light system (ALS),
sequenced flashing light (SFL), touchdown zone lights (TDZ) and centerline lights
(CLL-required for Category II & III operations.)
RUNAWAY VISUAL RANGE (RVR) : In order to land, the pilot must be able to see
appropriate visual aids not later than the arrival at the decision height (DH) or the
missed approach point (MAP).
There are 3 categories of precision approach:
CAT I, CAT II and CAT III (spelled CAT1, CAT2 and CAT3).
CAT III has 3 sub-categories: CAT III A, CAT III B and CAT III C.
Category of Operation Decision Height (DH) Runway Visual Range (RVR)
CAT I DH ≥ 200 ft (60m) RVR ≥ 550 m or VIS ≥ 800 m
RVR ≥ 1800 ft or VIS ≥ 2600 ft
CAT II 100 ft ≤ DH < 200 ft RVR ≥ 300 m
RVR ≥ 1000 ft
CAT IIIA No DH or DH < 100 ft RVR ≥ 175m
RVR ≥ 550 ft
CAT IIIB No DH or DH < 50ft 50 m ≤ RVR < 175 m
160 ft ≤ RVR < 550 ft
CAT IIIC No DH No RVR limitation
You may not use CAT III C as this category is never used on airports.

NO DH and NO RVR: This means a plane can come in without seeing anything at all during the whole
landing flare and roll out, but since the pilots do not see a thing when their plane is stationary on the
runway after landing, they cannot leave that runway under their own power and should be towed off!
The special conditions apply to Category II and III ILS operation:
 Aircraft equipment accuracy shall be compatible to the ILS category flown.
 Pilot shall be trained and qualified for the ILS category flown.
 Airfield installations shall be compatible with the ILS category selected.
 VHF Omnidirectional Range - VOR
The VOR is the basic short-range aid used to provide navigation guidance along airways, air
traffic services (ATS) routes, intermediate and final approach tracks, and specified tracks.
The VOR is an omnidirectional (360° Directions) range station which operates in the very high
frequency (VHF) band.
This magnetic bearing from the station to the aircraft is called the "radial". A radial starts at the
beacon and continues until the reception is granted.
Bearing information may be used by aircraft to fly toward or away from the VOR station at any
azimuth selected by the pilot or to know the relative position of the aircraft from the VOR
station.
The 180° ambiguity in indication is resolved by the provision of a “to/from” of the VOR
indicator in the aircraft avionics.
 Type of VOR Beacons
Four types of VOR beacons are used:
Terminal VOR (T-VOR): It is used in the terminal area of airports and covers a relatively
small geographic area protected from interference by other stations on the same frequency.
The allocated band ranges from 108 to 111.850 MHz.
En-route VOR: They are used as route fixes within high or low airspace.
The allocated band ranges from 112 to 117.950 MHz
VOT : These are testing VOR's installed at certain aerodromes to enable pilots to test the
airborne VOR equipment.
DVOR: Doppler's VOR a second generation VOR, the main aim being to improve the
accuracy of signals
Frequency Band: Frequencies are allotted to VOR's from VHF band.
Range: VHF has line of sight range.

The VOR station is often coupled to a DME system to provide a distance measurement
between the aircraft and the beacon.
 Non-directional beacon – NDB
A Non Directional Beacon, abbreviated ‘NDB’, is a ground installation consisting of a LF
transmitter which transmits vertically polarized radio signals continuously and in all directions.
The Automatic Direction Finding (ADF) equipment on-board of aircraft is used together with
the Non Directional Beacon (NDB) transmitters installed on the ground.
This system is an old radio-aid system which is getting replaced gradually with more modern
and accurate systems such as VOR or even GPS systems.
There are four types of non-directional beacons in the aeronautical navigation service:
 En route NDBs, used to mark airways
 Approach NDBs
 Localizer beacons
 Locator beacons
The last two types are used in conjunction with an instrument landing system (ILS).
Frequency Band: Frequencies are allotted to NDBs from LF/MF Bands, by convention an NDB
is a MF Aid.
 Distance Measurement Equipment – DME
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is defined as a combination of ground and airborne
equipment which gives a continuous slant range distance-from-station.
Readout by measuring the time-lapse of a signal transmitted by the aircraft to the station and
responded back.
Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) is defined as usually coupled with a VOR or an ILS
beacon to enable aircraft to measure their position relative to that beacon.
DME ground and on-board equipment use the UHF radio frequency band.

 The distance measured by

the aircraft is the direct
path between the aircraft
and the antenna of the
DME. It is not the ground
distance!
 Marker Beacon
A marker beacon is a VFR radio transmitter which radiates vertically a distinctive pattern for
providing position information to aircraft.
They are now gradually being deactivated as RNAV navigation and GPS instrument have made
marker beacons obsolete.
Nowadays, marker beacons are still used in some airfields in conjunction with an instrument
landing system (ILS), to give pilots a means to verify its position.
There are three types of marker beacons:
Outer Marker (OM)
Middle Marker (MM)
Inner Marker (IM)
In the final approach path, the markers are overflown in the same order.
 Satellite Navigation – Introduction
With the progress of electronic systems (computers) and the Global Navigation Satellite
System (GNSS) like the global positioning system (GPS), aircraft can travel with more
accuracy and efficiency.
The global positioning system (GPS) is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that
provides location and time information in all weather conditions,
anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight.
 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
The GNSS concept is based on time and the known position of specialized satellites. The satellites carry
very stable atomic clocks that are synchronized to each other and to ground clocks.
GNSS includes two different kinds of satellite meant for two different purposes:
 Positioning system: It allows positioning an object everywhere on earth in relation
to its coordinates and its altitude.
 Augmentation system: It allows making sure the positioning system’s integrity is reliable,
thus there is no gap in positioning signal.
Examples of a few GNSS positioning systems:
 GPS (USA)
 GLONASS (Russia)
 Galileo (Europe)
 Compass (China)
 IRNSS (India)
 QZSS (Japan)
 Positioning System
The position is computed from the distances to the satellites.
Aircraft can use up to 6 satellite signals:
 4 signals is basic positioning
 5 signals will allow detecting a faulty signal: RAIM function
 6 signals will allow determining which satellite is faulty: FDE function
GNSS must meet essential criteria to ensure flight safety:
Accuracy: amount of error between computed and true position
Integrity: ability to alert the user when accuracy decreases
Continuity: amount of time the system will operate without interruption
Availability: amount of time the system is actually able to function
 Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM): Enables to achieve integrity when
using GNSS. It enables detecting a discrepancy in satellite signal, which leads to a decrease
in position accuracy. Since the monitoring is continuous, pilot can be immediately alerted
when inaccuracy hit a critical threshold, generally the required specification
 The Fault Detection and Exclusion (FDE) function allows the user deselecting a faulty
satellite to ensure continuity and availability of GNSS.
 Augmentation System
GNSS signals are correlated with augmentation systems.
There are three types of augmentation systems:
Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS)
Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS)
Autonomous/Aircraft-Based Augmentation System (ABAS)
 Augmentation will magnify and enhance satellite signals and position computation to
monitor its accuracy and thence the integrity of the system.
THE END