radio.training

How to fill in a VFR nav log for a short flight in Canada

Most nav log examples are long cross-countries with a string of waypoints, which makes a short flight look like it needs a different method. It does not. A short flight has fewer legs, and every leg is worked the same way.

What the flight test asks for

Transport Canada's PPL flight test (TP 13723, Ex. 23A) asks you to prepare a chart and a navigational flight log, including estimated headings, appropriate power settings, ground speed, fuel requirements and time enroute. Software-generated planning is acceptable, but you must be able to explain the key elements, such as time enroute and fuel. So it is worth being able to do it by hand.

The legs

A leg runs from one point you can identify to the next. On departure, the first point is usually your set heading point: the place where you note the time and settle on the heading for the first leg (TP 13723, Ex. 23B). After that, pick checkpoints you can recognise from the air, then the destination.

Near busy aerodromes, the CFS VFR Terminal Procedures Charts publish named VFR call-up points with their coordinates, and many sit on the routes in and out. Plan any route through terminal or controlled airspace on the VTA with your instructor.

The columns, in the order you work them

• True course (TC): the line from one point to the next, measured on the chart against a meridian, which is true north.
• Wind: use the forecast wind aloft for your altitude. Forecast winds are given in degrees true (TC AIM, MET). Winds from the tower are given in magnetic degrees (TC AIM, RAC), so they do not belong in this column.
• Wind correction angle (WCA) and true heading (TH): turn into the wind by enough to hold the course. TH is TC plus or minus the WCA.
• Variation: the difference between true and magnetic north, printed on the chart and in each aerodrome's CFS entry. East is least (subtract), west is best (add). The aerodromes in the example below all list 17 degrees east.
• Magnetic heading (MH): true heading corrected for variation. Apply your aircraft's compass deviation card to get the compass heading.
• Groundspeed (GS): true airspeed plus or minus the wind along the track.
• Time (ETE): distance divided by groundspeed, times 60, in minutes.
• Fuel: time multiplied by your burn rate from the POH, at the power setting you plan to use.

Worked example: Abbotsford to Chilliwack

Abbotsford publishes a runway 01 departure to GREENHOUSE: fly runway heading to 1500 feet, then direct KILGARD, then GREENHOUSE. From GREENHOUSE it is a short leg to Chilliwack. With a forecast wind of 240 degrees true at 15 knots, 105 knots true airspeed and 8.5 US gallons an hour:

The first leg is drawn as a straight line from the aerodrome; in practice you fly runway heading to 1500 feet before turning for KILGARD. Positions and variation are from the Canada Flight Supplement. The numbers are illustrative only and not for navigation: use the current CFS, your own chart and the actual forecast.

Fuel

For a VFR flight by day, carry enough fuel to reach the destination and then fly 30 minutes at normal cruising speed. By night, 45 minutes (TC AIM, RAC 3.12; CAR 602.88). Add taxi fuel, and carry more than the minimum.

Practise it

Then fly the radio side of the same route: the cross-country scenario departs Abbotsford for Chilliwack on a VFR flight plan. And try the diversion drill: estimating heading, time and fuel in your head is the diversion exercise (Ex. 23D), and the flight test guide itself says it takes extensive ground training and practice.

Fly the cross-country → Try the diversion drill →