Editing Flight (section)

== Guidance, navigation and control ==
{{Main|Guidance, navigation, and control}}

=== Navigation ===
[[Navigation]] is the systems necessary to calculate current position (e.g. [[compass]], [[GPS]], [[LORAN]], [[star tracker]], [[inertial measurement unit]], and [[altimeter]]).

In aircraft, successful [[air navigation]] involves piloting an aircraft from place to place without getting lost, breaking the laws applying to aircraft, or endangering the safety of those on board or on the [[Earth|ground]].

The techniques used for navigation in the air will depend on whether the aircraft is flying under the [[visual flight rules]] (VFR) or the [[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 VFR case, a pilot will largely navigate using [[dead reckoning]] combined with visual observations (known as [[pilotage]]), with reference to appropriate maps. This may be supplemented using radio navigation aids.

=== Guidance ===
{{Main|Guidance system}}
A '''guidance system''' is a device or group of devices used in the [[navigation]] of a [[ship]], [[aircraft]], [[missile]], [[rocket]], [[satellite]], or other moving object. Typically, guidance is responsible for the calculation of the vector (i.e., direction, velocity) toward an objective.

=== Control ===
{{Main|Flight control system}}
A conventional fixed-wing '''aircraft flight control system''' consists of [[flight control surfaces]], the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. [[Aircraft engine controls]] are also considered as flight controls as they change speed.

==== Traffic ====
In the case of aircraft, air traffic is controlled by [[air traffic control]] systems.

[[Collision avoidance (spacecraft)|Collision avoidance]] is the process of controlling spacecraft to try to prevent collisions.