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Air navigation
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{{Short description|Navigation for aviation}} The basic principles of '''air navigation''' are identical to general [[navigation]], which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another.<ref name='NVPUB9V1'>{{cite book |last1 = Bowditch |first1 = Nathaniel |title = The American Practical Navigator |chapter = Glossary |volume = 9 |publisher = National Imagery and Mapping Agency |year = 1995 |location = Bethesda, Maryland |page = 815 |url = http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/pdf/glossary/gloss-n.pdf |access-date = 2010-12-14 |isbn = 978-0-939837-54-0 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110520040826/http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/pdf/glossary/gloss-n.pdf |archive-date = 2011-05-20 }} </ref> Successful air navigation involves piloting an aircraft from place to place without getting lost, not breaking the laws applying to aircraft, or endangering the safety of those on board or on the [[Earth|ground]]. Air navigation differs from the navigation of surface craft in several ways; aircraft travel at relatively high speeds, leaving less time to calculate their position en route. Aircraft normally cannot stop in mid-air to ascertain their position at leisure. Aircraft are safety-limited by the amount of fuel they can carry; a surface vehicle can usually get lost, run out of fuel, then simply await rescue. There is no in-flight rescue for most aircraft. Additionally, collisions with obstructions are usually fatal. Therefore, constant awareness of position is critical for aircraft pilots. The techniques used for [[navigation]] in the air will depend on whether the aircraft is flying under [[visual flight rules]] (VFR) or [[instrument flight rules]] (IFR). In the latter case, the [[aviator|pilot]] will navigate exclusively using [[flight instruments|instruments]] and [[radio navigation aid]]s such as beacons, or as directed under [[radar]] control by [[air traffic control]]. In the former case, a pilot will largely navigate using "[[dead reckoning]]" combined with visual observations (known as [[Piloting (navigation)|pilotage]]), with reference to appropriate maps. This may be supplemented using radio navigation aids or [[GNSS|satellite based positioning systems]].
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