Over the last two weeks, my class has been studying Radio Navigation (RNav). It's been our first subject in mod 2 and it's been good so far. Nothing's been very difficult however there are a lot of facts and frequencies to remember for the exams! A lot of RNav (intact probably all of it) focuses on the particular pieces of equipment pilots use to navigate, such as the VOR, ILS, MLS, NDB / ADF, DME, SBAS and GBAS.
On our last day of Radio Navigation we had a day booked in one of the Boeing 737-700 fixed based simulators so we could see how to use aircraft's equipment in conjuncture with the ground stations. It'd be an understatement to say it was an AMAZING day.
As well as practising navigating between beacons such as VORs and DMEs, we were able to perform an ILS approach into Gatwick and a go around at the last minute! This involved tuning and identifying the ILS, setting the aircraft's course correctly and flying the aircraft down to a height of 200ft where we disengaged the autothrottle and powered away from the airport.
I can't wait to have another go in the Airbus! (the superior aircraft :p)
