Commercial pilot · ACS CA.VI.A · Instructor lesson plan
Pilotage and Dead Reckoning
Student pack: Train: Pilotage and Dead Reckoning · Full lesson: Prepare guide
1 · Objective
By the end of this lesson your student can explain pilotage and dead reckoning in their own words, apply it in a realistic situation, and fly it to the ACS standard for CA.VI.A.
Why it matters for safety: Most navigation accidents aren't about being slightly off course: they're about running out of fuel, flying into terrain or weather while unsure of position, or a GPS failure the pilot couldn't back up. Pilotage and dead reckoning are the backup that always works, and the habit of comparing plan to actual catches a problem while there are still options.
2 · Assign before the lesson
Pre-work: the free Train pack, Pilotage and Dead Reckoning. Navigate by chart, clock and compass to commercial standards: within 2 nm of course and 3 minutes of each estimate.
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Pack: pilotprep.pro/train/cpl/pilotage-and-dead-reckoning · Full lesson: pilotprep.pro/prepare/cpl/pilotage-and-dead-reckoning
3 · Teach sequence
Key points to land
- Pilotage is navigating by visible landmarks; dead reckoning is navigating by computed heading, groundspeed and time. Use them together and cross-check.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- From true course: apply wind correction to get true heading, variation to get magnetic heading ("east is least, west is best"), deviation to get compass heading.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- True airspeed is higher than indicated as altitude rises (roughly 2% per 1,000 feet); plan with TAS from the POH for the altitude and temperature.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Compass errors in the northern hemisphere: turning errors, greatest on north and south headings (undershoot north, overshoot south), and acceleration errors on east and west headings only (accelerate north, decelerate south). Read it only in steady, unaccelerated flight.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Flight Instruments (magnetic compass))
- Keep a flight log: actual times over checkpoints, revised groundspeed and ETA, and fuel against plan. Revise early.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Commercial standard: within 2 nm of the planned route, checkpoints within 3 minutes of the ETA, altitude ±100 feet, heading ±10°.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.VI.A.S5-S7)
- Watch fuel against the plan; VFR reserve is 30 minutes by day and 45 at night, and a commercial pilot plans more than the minimum.(14 CFR 91.151)
The plan
- Choose a route that avoids terrain, airspace and long stretches without landing options; choose altitudes for terrain clearance, winds and cloud clearance. More than 3,000 feet above the surface, the hemispheric rule: magnetic course 0-179°, odd thousands plus 500 MSL (3,500, 5,500); 180-359°, even thousands plus 500 (4,500, 6,500), unless ATC assigns otherwise.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation; 14 CFR 91.159)
- Pick checkpoints that are unmistakable from the air: a river bend, a highway interchange, a lake, a town with a distinctive shape. Space them about every 10 to 15 minutes.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Read the topography on the chart: contour shading, maximum elevation figures, towers and obstacles near your route.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
Plotting it
- Measure the true course, apply the wind correction angle from the forecast winds, then variation and deviation to get the compass heading.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Compute groundspeed, time and fuel for each leg with your E6B or app; use TAS for the planned altitude and temperature (density altitude raises TAS for the same indicated speed).(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Set power and mixture by the POH for the planned cruise; the fuel burn in the plan only holds if you fly that power setting.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
Plan versus actual
- At each checkpoint, note the time; compare with the plan to get the real groundspeed and a revised ETA and fuel figure.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Drift, by the 1-in-60 rule: each nm off course per 60 nm flown is about 1° of drift. To parallel the course, add the drift angle; to reach the destination, add the drift angle plus a closing angle (distance off per 60 nm remaining). Hold the original wind correction plus that total. Small, early corrections beat large late ones.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation)
- Turns to headings on the compass, northern hemisphere: turning toward north the card leads (shows the turn too soon), so stop the turn early, by 15° plus half your latitude (about 35° at 40° N); turning toward south it lags, so let it pass south by the same amount before rolling out. Read it only in steady, unaccelerated flight.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Flight Instruments (magnetic compass))
- Fuel burning faster than planned (headwinds, wrong mixture, a leak): recompute the reserve and divert early rather than late.(14 CFR 91.151; RMH)
Eyes outside
- Navigation pulls your eyes to the chart and the log: keep scanning in short sections, and use flight following.(AC 90-48, Pilots' Role in Collision Avoidance)
- Prioritize: aviate (altitude, heading), navigate (where am I), communicate. A wrong landmark identification often comes from forcing the ground to fit the chart.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
Watch for in the airplane: Your instructor watches for a usable flight log, wind-corrected headings, checkpoint times recorded and ETAs revised, early course corrections, compass turns flown correctly, and altitude and heading within commercial tolerances.
4 · Ask your student
In order: recall, then understanding, then applying it. Move up only when the answer shows it.
Recall · How do you get from true course to compass heading?
A strong answer: Apply the wind correction angle for true heading, then variation (east is least, west is best) for magnetic heading, then deviation for compass heading.
Understand · Why do you revise the ETA at each checkpoint?
A strong answer: The forecast winds are only an estimate; actual time between checkpoints gives the real groundspeed, so the ETA and fuel picture stay accurate and a problem shows up early.
Apply · Two checkpoints in, you're 6 minutes behind plan and burning fuel as planned per hour. What do you do?
A strong answer: Recompute groundspeed, ETA and fuel at the destination with reserve. If the reserve gets thin, plan a fuel stop or a closer destination now rather than later.
Scenarios to talk through
With the heading indicator failed, you turn right from 270 toward north using only the magnetic compass. When do you roll out?
Sound decision: Before the compass reads north: in the northern hemisphere, turning toward north the card leads, showing a false northerly reading, so roll out early: 15° plus half the latitude (about 35° early at 40° N). Roll out early (roughly by your latitude in degrees), then confirm in steady, level flight and correct.
Your checkpoint should be a town with a racetrack, but you see two towns. How do you decide?
Sound decision: Check the time and heading: which one fits your dead-reckoning position? Then look for a second feature that matches only one of them. Don't make the ground fit the chart.
The winds aloft were wrong: you're drifting 3 nm right of course after 20 minutes. How do you correct?
Sound decision: 3 nm off after 20 minutes at, say, 120 knots (40 nm flown) is about 4.5° of drift. To return over the next 40 nm, turn about 9° left (4.5° drift plus 4.5° closing), then hold the old correction plus 4.5°; update the groundspeed and ETA.
5 · Common student errors
Not recording checkpoint times.
Why it matters: Without them there's no real groundspeed and no good lost-procedure starting point.
How to correct it: Write the time at every checkpoint.
Reading the compass in a turn.
Why it matters: Turning and acceleration errors make it wrong.
How to correct it: Use the heading indicator in turns; read the compass in steady flight.
Planning with indicated, not true, airspeed.
Why it matters: Groundspeed and times come out wrong at altitude.
How to correct it: Plan with TAS for the altitude and temperature.
6 · Completion standard
- Prepare and use a flight log; navigate by pilotage and by computed headings, groundspeeds and elapsed time; use the magnetic compass for turns to headings.
- Within 2 nm of the planned route; checkpoints within 3 minutes of the ETA, with a destination estimate; altitude ±100 feet, heading ±10°.
- Your student answers each "Ask your student" question in their own words, up to the Apply level, without prompting.
- They talk through the scenarios and reach a safe, legal decision, explaining why.
- They complete the pack’s quick check and can say what they flagged.
Area trained? Close out with a practice oral focused on CA.VI.A: pilotprep.pro/exam?exam=CPL&focus=CA.VI.A
7 · References
- Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C), Navigation; Flight Instruments
- Advanced Avionics Handbook (FAA-H-8083-6)
- Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Chapters 1, 4, 6 and 7
- 14 CFR Part 91, 91.3, 91.103, 91.123, 91.151, 91.171, 91.215, 91.225
- AC 90-48 and AC 91-78
- Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), Area VI
- Airman Certification Standards, task CA.VI.A
PilotPrep instructor lesson plan, from the Pilotage and Dead Reckoning lesson (checked against current FAA sources 2026-11-13). A study and teaching aid, not FAA guidance; teach to your own judgment and the current ACS.