COMPLETE A NAVIGATION LOG

A navigation log is a tool that you use to guide your preflight planning, and a plan that you execute in flight. The value you obtain from the
navigation log is the centralization of all of the information you need in an easy to read, single location.

There are many different versions of navigation logs. Many aviation publishers sell printed copies, there are electronic versions available on the
internet, and online and tablet-based flight planners can automatically generate navigation logs. Many pilots create their own version in
spreadsheet software to have control over how the information is organized, tailoring the format to their own specific needs.

You will learn how to complete a navigation log using an example flight. After you have flown this flight, think about how the experience of
preparing the navigation log aided situational awareness in flight. Also, you may want to make changes to what information you include in the
navigation log, or use a different navigation log format.

Before starting to complete the navigation log, a review of terms and abbreviations is important.

Abbreviation Term Significance

TC True Course The angle between your course and true north.

Magnetic
MC The angle between your course and magnetic north.
Course

Var Magnetic The number of degrees left or right used to correct a true course to a
 Variation magnetic course.

Wind
The correction applied to a course to correct for wind drift. See Using
WCA Correction
the E6-B Flight Computer to calculate.
Angle

Each magnetic compass has built-in errors due to magnetic fields in

Magnetic the airplane affecting the compass’s accuracy. The compass deviation
Dev
Deviation correction card, which is calculated for each compass installation,
provides corrections in 30° increments.

Compass This is the compass heading you will fly for a specific leg of your
CH
Heading flight in your specific airplane.

Estimated Time You will calculate the amount of time you expect to fly each leg using
ETE
Enroute deduced reckoning.

Actual Time You will record the actual amount of time each leg took to fly. You’ll
ATE
Enroute use a timer in the airplane to measure this.

This tutorial uses Dauntless Software’s VFR Cross Country Flight Planner – Version B. Print a copy of this planner out now and follow along
using the tutorial. You can check out the other versions of this planner, as well as pilot submitted versions here.
Use a pencil when filling out the navigation log; you’ll inevitably need to make corrections.

Step Description Example

Plot your Using your plotter, draw a In this example, I’ve plotted a course between Cameron Airpark (O61) and Nutree
course course line on your sectional Airport (KVCB). You’ll see that I’m going to change this plot in the next step in
chart. Use a pencil or better yet, order for the course to fly over easier to recognize checkpoints.
an erasable highlighter so that
its easier to view your course
line. Note that you don’t always
go directly from your departure
to your destination airport. You
may need to fly around terrain
or airspace, navigate using radio
navigation radials, or choose a
route that is over airports. After
drawing your course, examine
the terrain and airspace along
your route. You may find that
you need to alter the course.
Also, this examination is the
first step in developing
situational awareness about
your flight. Are there airports
along your route of flight that
are suitable for diversion? Are
there any types of special use
airspace, MTRs, parachute
 operations, wilderness areas,
obstructions, or other unique
features?

Identify Checkpoints should be clearly You can see below that I’ve replotted my course using identifiable checkpoints.
Checkpoints identifiable landmarks along I’ve chosen over Mather Airport, over Sacramento Airport, and over the town of
your route of flight, spaced Dixon as my checkpoints which each have a large X over them.
every 10-20 miles. Try to pick
checkpoints that you’ll be able
to see from your previous
checkpoint, as this will give you
an object to point the airplane
towards in-flight. Airports can
also make great checkpoints
because they’ll help you learn
how to spot airports in flight,
and they help you maintain
situational awareness of your
closest alternate airport.

As you approach your

destination airport, you should
identify a 10 NM and 5 NM I’ve started to fill out the navigation log, listing the departure airport first, then a
checkpoint to aid you in checkpoint named ‘TOC’ which is not a true checkpoint, but a reminder to
identifying the airport. They calculate the airplane’s performance to ‘Top of Climb’. I’ve then entered my
will also serve as triggers for selected checkpoints, and one additional checkpoint just prior to my destination,
making radio announcements at ‘TOD’, which stands for ‘Top of Descent’ and is a reminder to initiate my descent
a uncontrolled field, or from cruise altitude. We’ll calculate TOD in a subsequent step. I’m predicting that
 I’ll need to start my TOD prior to reaching the Dixon checkpoint, but this may not
be correct, and I may need to swap the order of the TOD and Dixon checkpoints.

establishing contact with the

tower at a tower controlled
field.

Measure Using your navigation plotter, I’ve determined the true course and distances between each checkpoint. Note that
Distances and determine the true course along I’ve skipped lines around the TOC and TOD checkpoints as we do not need to
True Course your course line, and measure change course at these points, and we don’t yet know the distance to these points.
the distances between
checkpoints. Enter these values
in the navigation log, and total
 the distances.

Obtain winds You can obtain a weather For this example, we’ll use the SAC winds and temps aloft as the SAC reporting
aloft briefing from point is the closest reporting station along our route of flight.
LMFS/DUAT/DUATS or look
up just the Winds & Temps
Aloft for the Pacific Coast. Find FD1US1
the reporting stations along
your route of flight. If you DATA BASED ON 160000Z
unfamiliar with the station
identifiers, searching for the
identifer using flight planning
 VALID 160600Z FOR USE 0200-0900Z. TEMPS NEG ABV 24000

FT 3000 6000 9000 12000

website such as AirNav.
SAC 9900 2009+06 2414+05 2319+02

Determine The optimum cruise altitude for  Obstacle Clearance – In this example, we are departing from O61
cruising any flight depends on a number (field elevation 1287) and landing at Nutree (field elevation 117).
altitude of factors. There is no terrain or obstacles along the route of flight. However,
there is Mather and Sacramento’s Class D airspace that we can
 Obstacle either fly through with ATC approval, but experience has shown
Clearance – that ATC will typically require us to maintain at or above 3000
Compare the MSL when overflying Mather’s Class D. This results in a good
field elevation of minimum altitude for this flight of 3000 ft MSL.
your departure  Winds Aloft – Recalling that our average true course is 240°, let’s
airport, determine which altitudes are most favorable. You can use your
destination Crosswind Component chart or the 579 rule of thumb.
 3000 light and variable
airport and all
terrain and
obstructions 10  6000 200 @ 9 knots results in 6 knots of headwind
miles each side
of your planned
course to
  9000 240 @ 14 knots results in 14 knots of headwind
determine the
height of the  12000 230 @ 19 knots results in 19 knots of headwind
tallest
obstruction. Add
Staying down low will results in the least amount of headwind.
2000 ft to this
altitude. This is
your minimum  Performance – Analyzing the Cruise Performance table for the
safe altitude that CE-172-R shows us that flying at 8000 ft gives us the maximum
will ensure TAS and an efficient fuel burn.
obstacle  Alt %BHP RPM TAS GPH per knot TAS
clearance, give
you a few miles  2000 74% 2200 112 0.076
of glide range if
the airplane  4000 75% 2250 114 0.075
experience
engine failure,
 6000 75% 2300 117 0.0734
and will help you
see checkpoints
and your  8000 76% 2350 119 0.073
destination
airport. This is a  10000 72% 2350 118 0.069
minimum
altitude, not the
 12000 69% 2350 117 0.068
optimum
altitude.
 Winds Aloft –  VFR Cruising Altitude – A true course of 240° converts to a
Compare the true magnetic course of about 225° with 15° E variation in the
course for your Sacramento area. This is a westerly course, requiring an even
 flight with the altitude plus 500 ft. We could choose 4500, 6500, 8500, etc.
winds aloft.
Recall that the Results
winds aloft are
aligned with true Min Altitude: 3000
north. Determine Most Favorable Winds: Lower
if specific Most Efficient Altitude: 8000
altitudes have a VFR Cruising Altitude: Even + 5000
favorable
headwind or
unfavorable This sets us up to use 4500 ft as our cruise altitude.
tailwind.
Generally, winds For the WCA and GS calculations, we’ll need to use the interpolation of the 3000
will increase as and 6000 ft winds. As the 3000 ft winds are light and variable and the 6000 ft
you climb. If winds are 200 @ 9, interpolation is difficult. You can either choose the light and
flying against a variable, or keep the 200° and halve the velocity, which I’ll round up to 5 knots,
headwind, stay giving us a forecast winds aloft at 4500 ft of 200 @ 5 knots, and a temperature of
low; if flying 9° C (I used the standard temperature lapse rate, adding 3° C for the 1500 ft
with a tailwind, difference between 6000 ft and 4500 ft).
climb and take
advantage of the We can also determine our TAS and fuel burn rate. 9° C at 4500 ft is 3° above
‘free’ standard temperature (recall that 15° C is standard temperature at sea level and the
groundspeed. lapse rate is 2° C per 1000 ft of altitude which would result in a standard
 Fuel Burn vs temperature of 6° C at 4500 ft.). This means we should use the Standard
TAS – Using the Temperature column in the cruise performance chart. Next, interpolate the 4000 ft
Cruise and 6000 ft for 2250 RPM, which is 75% BHP at 4000 ft. TAS is 114 knots for
Performance both 4000 and 6000 ft, so no interpolation is required. Fuel burn rate is 8.6 GPH at
table or chart in 4000 ft, and 8.1 GPH at 6000 ft, resulting in a burn rate of 8.475 at 4500 ft. Round
Chapter 5 of
your airplane’s this up to 8.5 GPH.
flight manual,
determine the
optimum altitude
by comparing
fuel burn to
TAS. Generally,
cruise power
settings are
between 65-75%
BHP (brake
horsepower),
TAS increases as
altitude increases
due to the
reduction in drag
due to
decreasing air
density, and
normally
aspirated
airplane engines
cannot develop
75% BHP above
8500 ft due to
the reduction in
air density (and
thus oxygen) at
altitude.
 Generally, 8500
is going to be the
most efficient
altitude for a
normally
aspirated engine,
balancing the
highest TAS
with least
amount of fuel
burned per knot
of TAS.
 VFR cruising
altitude – 14
CFR 91.159
requires use of a
VFR cruising
altitude when
3000 AGL or
higher and in
cruise flight.
Select an even
altitude + 500 ft
for a magnetic
course between
180-359°, and an
odd altitude +
500 ft for a
magnetic course
between 350 and
179°.
Convert True Look for an isogonic line on the In this example, the closest isogonic line to our course if the 14° 30′ line, so we’ll
Course to sectional chart closest to the round that up to 15° E variation and subtract 15° from each true course to obtain a
Magnetic drawn course. For long flights, magnetic course.
Course its possible that you’ll fly over
multiple isogonic lines, and will
need to use different magnetic
variations. Recall that westerly
variations are added to the true
course to convert to magnetic
course, and easterly variations
are subtracted from the true
course to convert to magnetic
course. Easterly variations are
found west of the agonic line,
because magnetic north lies east
of true north from any position
west of the agonic line.
Westerly variations are found
east of the agonic line, because
magnetic north liest west of true
north from any position east of
the agonic line. The memory
aid ‘West is best, East is least’
can be used to recall this.
Calculate Use the wind side of your flight Since our legs use four different magnetic courses, we’ll need to calculate a WCA
Wind computer to determine the and groundspeed for each different course. Recall that the winds aloft at our cruise
Correction WCA and GS for each leg. altitude are 200@5, and that winds aloft directions are measured from true north
Angle See Using the E6-B Flight so we’ll need to use your true course when building the wind triangle on the wind
(WCA) and Computer for assistance in side of the flight computer.
Groundspeed calculating the WCA and GS.
(GS) So, for the first leg, we’ll plot that our winds are from 200°, measure up 5 knots
from the grommet, then turn the wheel to 242°, slide the wheel until the wind
mark is on 114 (our planned TAS), and read the WCA from the plotted wind
 mark, and the groundspeed underneath the grommet. In this case, the result is a
WCA of -1 and a groundspeed of 110. I’ll fill this in on the navigation log and
calculate the remaining legs. I’ll also apply the WCA to a the magnetic course
(MC) to calculate the Magnetic Heading (MH).

Correct for Magnetic fields in the airplane I’ve obtained the compass deviation card for the N212CF.
Magnetic affect the compass’s accuracy,
Deviation and the magnitude of the error Compass Deviation Card – 1/12/2014
may vary depending on the
orientation of the airplane. Each
360 030 060 090 120 150
compass installation must be
calibrated and deviation card is
produced to inform the pilot of
the expected error. The 005 039 067 096 126 155
deviation card is typically
located in a holder next to the
compass. During your preflight 180 210 240 270 300 330
planning, you’ll need to make a
copy of this course.
184 213 243 274 305 336

As the leg headings are between 210° and 240°, which both have a deviation
correction of +3°, we’ll add 3° to each magnetic heading (MH) to obtain a
compass heading (CH).
Calculate Using the computer side of the For the first leg, we’ll be 16 NM at 110 kts groundspeed. Now, the first leg also
Estimated E6-B, we’ll solve a Rate-Time- includes our climb to our cruising altitude, so while we’re climbing we won’t yet
Time Enroute Distance problem to determine be at 110 knots. Instead, we’ll look up the amount of time it will take to climb
(ETE) the amount of time it will take using the Time, Fuel and Distance to Climb table in the flight manual.
to fly each leg at the calculate
groundspeed.
To this this table, we’ll need to read across the table to find time, fuel and distance
to climb to our cruise altitude, and subtract the time fuel and distance between sea-
level and our departure airport. In this case, we’ll interpolate between 4000 and
5000 (for 4500 ft) to get 7 mins, 1.65 gals and 9.5 NM. We’ll then subtract 1 min,
0.4 gal and 2 NM because Cameron Park’s field elevation is 1287 and typically we
have high pressure, bringing the pressure altitude closer to 1000. This gives us 6
mins, 1.25 gals and 7.5 NM to climb from Cameron Park to 4500 ft. I’ll then edit
the first leg to reflect that it will take 7.5 NM, climbing at 79 knots (Vy in the CE-
172-R) and it will take 6 minutes to reach TOC. This leaves 8.5 NM left at 110
knots to reach our first checkpoint, Mather Airport, which using the E6-B to
calculate results in 4.5 minutes. We can then calculate the remaining legs using the
E6-B.
Calculate There are two approaches to In this example, we’ll need to descent from 4500 to to 117 ft, which is basically
Top of planning when to initiate a sea-level, so we’ll round that up to 4500 ft of altitude to lose. We’ll use the
Descent descent. Constant 500 FPM method and as our planned groundspeed is approximately 110
(TOD) First, determine the amount of knots, we’ll round that up to use the 120 KT GS calculation. 4.5 x 4 miles = 18
altitude that you’ll need to lose miles out to start our descent. As our Dixon checkpoint is 7 NM from our
to descent from your cruise destination, that leaves 11 miles between our TOD checkpoint and Dixon. We’ll
altitude to your destination’s update our navlog to show reflect this, and recalculate ETEs for the KSAC to
field elevation. Then select one TOD and TOD to Dixon legs. We now have a plan to initiate our descent for
of the two methods below: Nuttree airport 3 minutes after crossing our Sacramento Executive airport
checkpoint.
Method 1: Variable ROD,
approx. 3° Slope

Altitude to lose / 300 = miles

out to start your descent

Groundspeed * 5 = Rate of
Descent

Method 2: Constant 500 FPM

ROD

120 KT GS: Altitude to lose in

thousands of ft x 4 miles per
1000 ft = miles out to start
descent
 90 KT GS: Altitude to lose in
thousands of ft x 3 miles per
1000 ft = miles out to start
descent.

Calculate Using the computer side of the For the first leg to Top of Climb, we’ll use the fuel burned we previously
Fuel Burn E6-B, we’ll determine the fuel calculated, and add to that the amount of fuel burned during engine start, taxi and
requirements for each leg. Refer takeoff, which can be found in the notes section of the Time, Fuel and Distance to
to the Using the E6-B Flight Climb table. The fuel requirement is 1.1 gal For the CE-172-R, which we’ll add to
Computer guide for assistance the 1.25 gals we previously calculated to climb to 4500, which results in 2.35
in solving fuel burn gallons burned for our first leg.
calculations.

We’ll use the flight computer to calculate the remaining fuel requirements for each
leg using our planed 8.5 GPH fuel burn rate. I’ll round up all calculate to the
nearest tenth of a gallons to simply the math and add margin.
 Our trip from Cameron Park to Nuttree Airport in Vacaville will cover 50 NM,
Total To understand the total take 29 minutes and burn 5.9 gallons of avgas.
Distance, distance, time and fuel, sum up
Time and each column and enter it at the
Fuel bottom of the navigation log
Columns table.

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