We have a wealth of engineering expertise to maintain these systems, all of which stems from the underpinning knowledge our engineers gain by attending a navigation qualification course prior to the system and equipment training courses.
The engineering students attending the Radio Navigation Aids course will explore the following areas:
Navigation Concepts
Navigation Concepts examines the requirements of the performance of a navigation system as well as defining the aspects of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) and Area Navigation concept (RNAV – Basic (B-RNAV) and Precision (P-RNAV)
Ground Based En-route and terminal Navigation Aids
Describes the operation and general architecture of Non-Directional Beacons (NDB), VHF Direction Finding (VDF), VHF Omni Range (CVOR and DVOR), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Instrument landing system (ILS) and Microwave Landing System (MLS).
This will encompass the principles of operation, regulatory requirements, use of the system, ground station architecture, transmitter/receiver architecture, appropriate aircraft on-board systems and displays and the compliance with standards for these equipments.
Satellite Based Navigation Systems
This unit discovers the principles of providing a satellite based navigation system utilising Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS1), Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and the GALILEO System.
Students will also learn about the concepts of Ground Based Augmentation Systems (GBAS), Space/Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) and Aircraft Based Augmentation Systems (ABAS).
Improvements to systems by the introduction of GNSS2 and modernised GPS will be explored.
On Board Navigation Architecture
This area looks at the current sensors, Human Machine Interface (HMI), Flight Management System (FMS) and navigation database principles in current general usage.
Display Systems
Display Systems describes typical aircraft instrumentation such as the Horizontal situation Indicator (HSI), Navigation Display (ND) and Primary Flight Display (PFD)
Inertial Navigation
This area investigates the principles and key features of Inertial Navigation.
Vertical Navigation
Identifies and defines key elements of Barometry and Radio Altimetry. Terminology such as QFE, QNH and RVSM is explained as well as the links to SSR Mode C and Mode S.