Jay Gaulard Blog

Do you want to know what someone said to me about my previous post about VOR navigation? They said it was boring. I didn’t think it was boring when I was writing about the fascinating topic of airplane navigation. I thought it was quite thrilling. I was actually thrilled to write that post. What a thrill.

Well, after reading that post again, I kind of came to the conclusion that unless you are an airplane geek, you would probably get a big dent in your head from the thud of your skull hitting the desk in front of you while reading that thing. I mean, I had a full glass of water next to me on the desk when I started reading it and by the time I was done reading…the glass was empty. That’s how dry that reading was.

As an apology, I decided to write a little today about how to fill in a Jeppesen Sanderson Navigation Log for a VFR Private Pilot. This should make it up to you. If you are not completely thrilled by the time you are done reading this, by all means, please let me know. You know…I am a riot at parties.

CREATING A JEPPESEN NAVIGATION LOG PLAN TO A CLOSEBY AIRPORT (50NM - ONE VOR STATION)

Here we go…step by step. I completed this navigation log this morning for a trip to a nearby airport. I hope this helps you fill in your own navigation log.

- Plot your course on sectional chart. Draw line directly from your departure airport to your destination airport. In this case, we drew a line from Orange County (MGJ) to Waterbury-Oxford (OXC).

- Plot your course from departure airport to the closest VOR station and then from VOR station to destination airport. In this case, we drew a line from MGJ to the Kingston VOR (IGN) and then from IGN to OXC.

- Measure distance in nautical miles from departure airport to destination airport. In this case, the distance was 50NM.

- You will be flying to the VOR station and, once reached, to the destination airport. Find and mark checkpoints along the way.

- On flight plan, record your departure airport in the first box in check point column and your first check point in the second box in the column. In this case, our first checkpoint was Stewart International (SWF)/Orange Lake. Draw a line through the checkpoint on your sectional chart.

- Record the VOR station identification and frequency in the first two boxes in the VOR column. In this case, the VOR identification is IGN and the frequency is 117.6.

- Record the course for your first leg in the first box in the course column. To do this, use your plotter and find the true course from the departure airport to the VOR station. In the case of flying from MJG to the Kingston VOR, the true course is 064.

- Decide what altitude you are going to fly at. To do this, look at your sectional chart. Each longitude/latitude section has a number in it for the highest point in that section. You must add two zeros to the number to get the altitude for the highest point. You must fly at least 1000FT above the highest point. In the case of this course, the departure airport section has a highest point of 4600FT, the VOR station section has highest point of 2200, we cross through a section with the highest point of 2300FT and the destination airport has the highest point of 1400FT. Since we are flying east, we fly an odd number altitude ex.- 3000FT, 5000FT, 7000FT plus 500FT. Since we know the area of the departure airport and we are no where near the highest point (the Shawangunk Ridge), we decide to fly at 5500FT. We could fly at 3500FT, but decide not to. Record your cruising altitude in the first box in the altitude column.

- Find wind direction, velocity and temperature and record in the top boxes in the wind column. To do this, call the weather briefing center at 1-800-WX-BRIEF. Ask for the information for the winds aloft closest to your cruising altitude. In this case, I asked for the wind direction, velocity and temperature for 6000FT aloft. The information came back as 250 at 37 +3. That means the direction was 250 (SW) at 37KTS with a temperature of 3 degrees celsius.

- Find and record the CAS (calibrated air speed) in the CAS box. CAS is the speed found in the front page of your POH (pilot operating handbook) recorded by the airplane manufacturer. Our cruising power is 75% throttle, so our CAS is 122KTS. Knowing the airplane’s engine capacity, we will record this number as 110KTS.

- Find and record the TAS (true air speed) in the first box in the TAS column. To find the TAS, use the ACT TAS (actual true air speed) function on your Sportys E6B flight computer. Enter the pressure altitude (5500), the temperature (3C) and the CAS (110). This should give you the result of TAS=118.8. Round up for 119. The reason you have a faster TAS than your CAS is because there is a lower density altitude (5121FT) than your pressure altitude (5500FT). This means that since the air is more dense due to the cold temperature, your airplane will fly more efficiently.

- Record your true course (TC) and the wind correction angle (WCA) in the TC column. To do this, simply re-record your course from the course box earlier. Then, use the HDG/GS (heading/ground speed) function on your Sportys E6B. Enter the wind direction (250), the wind speed (37), the course (064 or 64) and the TAS (119). This should give you a heading of 62.1 or 62 rounded down. Now, you can see that heading is different than the TC by 2 degrees. Record the WCA as the difference between the two. In this case, the WCA is -2 degrees.

- Record your true heading (TH) and magnetic deviation in the TH column. To do this, just use the result from the prior calculation (062) and find the closest isogonic line to your course on the sectional chart. In this case, the magnetic deviation was +14.

- Record your magnetic heading (MH) and the compass deviation in the MH column. To do this, just add the magnetic deviation (+14) to your TH (062). Record 076. Now, look inside your airplane on the compass deviation chart right near your magnetic compass. Find the deviation closest to your magnetic heading and solve. In this case, we chose -2 deviation.

- Record your compass heading (CH) in the CH column. In this case, we have 076 - 2 = 074.

Now, that’s basically the tedious part for the first leg of the trip. For all the following checkpoints along this heading, use the information that you recorded above.

- Record the distance of the entire course directly from the departure airport to the destination airport in the DIST box. In this case, the distance is 51NM.

- Record the distance from one checkpoint to the next and record it, as well as the remaining distance, in the DIST boxes. In this case, the distance from MGJ to SWF/Orange Lake is 7NM, therefore the remainder is 44NM.

- Record your ground speed (GS) in the GS column. To do this, use the HDG/GS function on your Sportys E6B. Fill in the required information and you should get a result of 155.7, rounded to 156.

- Record your departure time in the Time Off box. In this case we departed at 12:00.

- Record your estimated time enroute in the ETE box. To do this, use your E6B LEG TIME function. Type in the distance (7) and the GS (156). You should get 00:02:41, rounded as 3 minutes enroute. Your actual time enroute (ATE) will be recorded as you fly over your checkpoint.

- Record your estimated time of arrival (ETA) in the ETA box. In this case, we recorded 12:03. Your actual time of arrival (ATA) will be recorded during flight.

- Record your gallons of fuel per hour (GPH) in the GPH box. In this case, our airplane (C172) burns 9 GPH. We started our flight with 40 gallons of fuel on board.

- Record your fuel burned and remaining fuel in the FUEL and REM boxes. To do this, use the FUEL REQ function on your E6B. Type in 00:03:00 for the time and 9 for the FPH. You should get a result of .5 gallons of fuel used. Now, subtract this number from the total fuel on board and record your result (39.5).

That’s it. Now, repeat the steps above for each checkpoint of the trip to the VOR. Once the VOR is reached, change the course and the following figures that relate to that course. The altitude, wind, CAS and TAS will remain the same.

Once this information is complete, use your sectional chart and airport/facility directory to fill in the Airport & ATIS Advisories as well as the Airport Frequencies sections.

Yup, I just reread this post and I was right…THRILLING!

Related posts

• Flying a Stearman PT-17 at Candlelight Farms Airport in Sherman, CT (0)
• Flight School - Lesson #12 - 8AM-10AM - Engine Out Procedures and Presolo Written Exam (0)
• Flying Above Candlewood Lake, CT (1)
• Flight School - Lesson #8 - Noon - Controlled Airport & Wind (0)
• Flight School - Lesson #17 - 10:00AM-12:00PM - VOR Navigation (1)

Tags: Airports, Flight Ground School, Flying