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Expert: Capt Paul - 7/25/2004


Question
What do the airlines primarily use for navigation.

Answer
It depends on when they are, and what phase of flight.

Over land - short distance -  usually VHF radio navigation, or GPS.

Over Land - Long Distance - Usually GPS.  Sometimes Long Range Navigation INS

Over water, Dual GPS, INS or IRS.

VHF = Very High Frequency
GPS = Global Positioning System (Satelite Navigation)
INS = Inertial Navigation System (Self Contained System)
IRS = Inertial Reference System (Mixture of all of the above)

Finally, for very short flights, or when all of the above doesn't work...

WAG...

Wild Ass Guess  :)

Cheers

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Capt Paul

Expertise

I can answers questions relating to: aircraft and airline operations; aircraft technical matters relating to a number of different aircraft types; flight operations & flight planning; Aviation meteorology; accident prevention and investigation; the Air Traffic control system and how pilots interact with it; and pilot and airline licensing in the Europe, Asia, Canada and the US. I also answer questions about all types of Navigation, Aviation Weather, Aircraft Performance, Procedures and Aviation law (in general).

Experience

Current Airbus Captain with over 23 years as an airline pilot and over 13,500 hours of experience. Also experience as a Flight Operations Manager/Director; Chief Pilot; Instructor; Safety Officer, and training as an Accident/Incident Investigator. Degree in Airline / Aerospace Operations. Minor in Behavioural Psychology and studies in pre-law BS, Aerospace

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