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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-dead-reckoning-definition

What is navigation by computing heading and groundspeed from time, airspeed, distance and direction called?

Dead reckoning.

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  1. Dead reckoning ✔
  2. Pilotage
  3. Radio navigation

Why: Dead reckoning uses math, not landmarks. You work out heading and groundspeed, then predict when you will reach each checkpoint. Pilots usually combine it with pilotage on cross-country flights.

Huh, didn't know that: The FAA says the wind triangle is the basis of dead reckoning.

The dad joke
Why was the navigator so calm? He had it all figured out by the numbers.
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References

Answer: Dead reckoning. Dead reckoning uses math, not landmarks. You work out heading and groundspeed, then predict when you will reach each checkpoint. Pilots usually combine it with pilotage on cross-country flights.

  1. Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge FAA-H-8083-25C, Chapter 16 Navigation www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/18_phak_ch16.pdf
    Dead reckoning is navigation solely by means of computations based on time, airspeed, distance, and direction.
    Checked 2026-10-09.

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