Systems Aspects of Area Navigation

Area navigation systems are now becoming available to aviation after twenty years of spasmotic development culminating in the advisory circular on area navigation pulbished last August. Impetus for implementation of area navigation has come from a number of sources; among them are the increased density of aircraft traffic, the desire of pilots to navigate directly to locations without navigation aids, the increased sophistication of aircraft useage, and indirectly, the desire for more accurate and stable VOR receivers. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the advantages of area navigation systems hold for the aircraft pilot, the flight control systems, and improved navigation accuracy through rejection of VOR course scalloping. The logical future extensions of area navigation into vertical navigation computers will also be discussed.