Home › ATPL study guides › Radio Navigation

ATPL subject 062

ATPL Radio Navigation: what it covers and how to study it

Radio Navigation (subject 062) covers the systems that let you navigate and approach using radio and satellite signals: NDB, VOR, DME, ILS, radar, GNSS and performance-based navigation.

By Matthew Dowell, airline training captain and Chief Flight Instructor. A revision guide, not approved by any regulator. Your training organisation sets the syllabus and exam rules, and regulations always take precedence.

What the Radio Navigation paper covers

• NDB and ADF
• VOR and DME
• ILS and the landing aids
• Radar principles
• GNSS and satellite navigation
• Performance-based navigation

Where students find it hard

The principles of each system are not complex, but there are many systems, each with its own errors, ranges and limitations. Students struggle to keep them straight, and questions often ask which error applies to which system and why.

How to study Radio Navigation

• Build a one-page summary for each system: principle, use, errors and limits.
• Compare similar systems side by side to keep them apart.
• Link each system to where you will meet it in flight, so the facts have a purpose.

The Mastering ATPL book for this subject

The Mastering ATPL book for this subject is available on Amazon and through the Other stores links.

Mastering ATPL · Subject 062

Radio Navigation

NDB, VOR, DME, ILS, radar, GNSS and performance-based navigation.

Buy on Amazon UK Amazon US Other stores

How this book is organised

The book follows the topics listed above, in turn, starting with NDB and ADF; VOR and DME; ILS and the landing aids, so you can see which part of the paper you are covering at any point. It is a complete revision guide and question bank built on the full published learning objectives for the subject, and it ends with a mock examination weighted as the real one. Work through a section, test yourself on it, and keep the mock examination for the end, under timed conditions.

Related subjects

• ATPL General Navigation
• ATPL Meteorology
• ATPL Operational Procedures

See also: all 13 ATPL subjects and 14 study guides · how the EASA ATPL exams work · what order to study and sit the papers · Radio Navigation in the airline technical interview.