Escape From Frame

CONTENTS

Introduction - The compass rose - Used symbols - Variation - Deviation - Deviagram

INTRODUCTION:

Just like sailors, the pilot of an airplane must know, or be able to calculate, his exact location at any time.

When the apprentice pilot has a thorough command of the elementary flying technique and is considered able to man the airplane alone, the moment has come to acquire further skills that will enable him to find his way through the air.    

He must be able to fly from one random place on earth to another pre-determined place and calculate when exactly he will arrive there. 

The technique applied here is called "NAVIGATION". 

A good flight map, protractor, measuring rod and writing pad should enable a pilot to correctly follow a flying route mapped out beforehand, through instructions he receives beforehand or during the flight.

An instrument that is indispensable during a so-called “OVERLAND FLIGHT” is the “COMPASS”.

COMPASS ROSE:

The compass rose consists of 4 main directions.

The full circle=360°

The number of degrees is always measured “CLOCKWISE” starting from the NORTH.

There are some intermediate directions between those four main directions.  They each correspond to a certain number of degrees.  As I said before, the full circle is 360°.

Projected on the earth’s surface, the distance between two degrees on the earth’s circumference, near the equator, is exactly 111 km.

USED SYMBOLS:

VARIATION :

Variation means the angle between the “TRUE NORTH” and the “MAGNETIC NORTH”.

Positive variation

Positive variation means:

The “MAGNETIC NORTH” is situated TO THE EAST OR RIGHT of the

“TRUE NORTH”                                                   (sign + clockwise)

Negative variation

Negative variation means:

The “MAGNETIC NORTH” is situated “TO THE WEST or LEFT” of the

“TRUE NORTH”                                                     (sign  - clockwise)

DEVIATION:

Deviation is the angle between the “MAGNETIC NORTH” and the “COMPASS NORTH”

Positive deviation

Positive deviation means:

The “COMPASS NORTH” is situated “TO THE EAST or RIGHT” of the

“MAGNETIC NORTH”                                            (sign + clockwise)

Negative deviation

Negative deviation means:

The “COMPASS NORTH” is situated “TO THE WEST or LEFT” of the

“MAGNETIC NORTH”                                            (sign - clockwise)

DEVIAGRAM:

The following tables have been mounted in the airplane near the compass, so that each deviation degree can be read.

See also "Compass teaching"

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