Editing Piloting (section)

{{Short description|Navigating using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land}}
{{about|navigation||pilot (disambiguation)}}
'''Piloting''' or '''pilotage'''<ref name=collins>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/pilotage Collins English Dictionary]</ref><ref name=ahd>[https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=pilotage American Heritage Dictionary]</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | last =Maloney
 | first = Elbert S.
 | title = Chapman Piloting and Seamanship
  | edition = 64th
 | chapter = Chapter 16: Basic piloting procedures
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4FwbS8StvEC&q=piloting
  |date=December 2003
 | publisher = Hearst Communications Inc.
 | location = New York, NY
  | isbn = 1-58816-089-0
 }}</ref><ref name=NASA>{{cite web
 |url         = http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/navigation/2.html
 |title       = Aviation Navigation – Basic Navigation
 |last        = NASA
 |author-link        = NASA
 |website     = Virtual Skies
 |publisher   = [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]]
 |access-date = 2016-05-13
 |quote       = Pilotage: A method of navigation in which the pilot, flying at low altitudes, uses visual references and compares symbols on aeronautical charts with surface features on the ground in order to navigate.
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160508134535/http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/navigation/2.html
 |archive-date = 2016-05-08
}}</ref><ref name="Bartlett" /> is the process of [[Navigation|navigating]] on water or in the air<ref name="collins" /><ref name="ahd" /> using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a [[nautical chart]] or [[aeronautical chart]] to obtain a [[Fix (position)|fix of the position]] of the vessel or aircraft with respect to a desired [[Course (navigation)|course]] or location. Horizontal fixes of position from known reference points may be obtained by sight or by [[radar]]. Vertical position may be obtained by [[depth sounder]] to determine depth of the water body below a vessel or by [[altimeter]] to determine an aircraft's altitude, from which its distance above the ground can be deduced. Piloting a vessel is usually practiced close to shore or on inland waterways. Pilotage of an aircraft is practiced under [[visual meteorological conditions]] for flight.

[[Land navigation (military)|Land navigation]] is a related discipline, using a [[topographic map]], especially when applied over trackless terrain.<ref>{{cite book|author=United States Army|title=Army Training Circular TC 3-25.26: U.S. Army Map Reading and Land Navigation Handbook|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4209-2823-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jLwtAgAAQBAJ&q=Chapter+9}}</ref> [[Underwater diving|Divers]] use related techniques for [[Diver navigation#Navigation using natural features|underwater navigation]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.ukdivers.net/diving/uwnav.htm
 |title       = Underwater Navigation
 |last        = UK Divers
 |date        = October 16, 2007
 |website     = UKDivers.net
 |access-date = 2016-05-16
 |quote       = Pilotage – Navigation by reference to terrain features, both natural and artificial, usually with the aid of an appropriate chart.
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160313082610/http://www.ukdivers.net/diving/uwnav.htm
 |archive-date = March 13, 2016
}}</ref>