Editing Air navigation (section)

== Flight navigator ==
{{Further|Aircrew}}

Civilian flight navigators (a mostly redundant aircrew position, also called 'air navigator' or 'flight navigator'), were employed on older aircraft, typically between the late-1910s and the 1970s. The crew member, occasionally two navigation crew members for some flights, was responsible for the trip navigation, including its [[dead reckoning]] and [[celestial navigation]]. This was especially essential when trips were flown over oceans or other large bodies of water, where radio navigation aids were not originally available. (Satellite coverage is now provided worldwide). As [[Air navigation#Navigation aids|sophisticated electronic]] and [[GNSS]] systems came online, the navigator's position was discontinued and its function was assumed by dual-licensed pilot-navigators, and still later by the flight's [[Aircrew#Flight deck positions|primary pilots]] (Captain and First Officer), resulting in a downsizing in the number of aircrew positions for commercial flights. As the installation of electronic navigation systems into the Captain's and FO's instrument panels was relatively straight forward, the navigator's position in commercial aviation (but not necessarily military aviation) became redundant. (Some countries task their air forces to fly without navigation aids during [[war]]time, thus still requiring a navigator's position). Most civilian air navigators were retired or made redundant by the early 1980s.<ref name="FrancoFlyers.org-2008.10.14">Grierson, Mike. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607210014/http://www.francoflyers.org/2008/10/aviation-histor.html Aviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator], FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008.  Retrieved August 31, 2014.</ref>