RPC Advanced Navigation (Cross Country Endorsement) Course
This course is open to all pilots who hold an RPC. Once you have your RPC you can undertake further 'endorsement' training. Australia is a big country so having learnt to fly an aircraft with skill and confidence, one of the obvious endorsements to add is to learn not to get lost! Which is why an RPC holder can only fly in a 25nm radius from their take-off airport!. The navigation endorsement is an ‘add on’ to your RPC and allows you to fly an aircraft all around Australia!
While most of our RPC course graduate pilots start their navigation training immediately after (or sometimes before) gaining their RPC, navigation training is a separate endorsement, for example, like adding motorcycle or HGV to your car driver license. So a navigation endorsement can therefore be added to your RPC or RPL at any time. Some of our RPC course graduates decide to do their navigation endorsement after converting their RPC to an RPL and completing advanced handing courses like Spin recovery and Aerobatics. The choice is yours! Talk to your instructor for advise on your situation and objectives. We recommend you try to do at least 2 navigation lessons per week to achieve the competency required at the lowest cost.
What can I do with this endorsement?
- Fly almost anywhere in Australia, excluding controlled aerodromes + airspace. A passenger endorsement is still required if you wish to take a passenger.
Typical cost: $6,500 – $7,500 (+ $950 optional for Phase Four)
Our Navigation course utilises simple yet very effective and proven military navigation techniques taught to our CFI, Colin Appleton, many years ago by his instructor Wing CDR Noel Kruse (retired). We will make you a very competent cross country pilot. With an RPL and navigation endorsement you will be able to navigate, in visual flight conditions, anywhere around Australia with confidence allowing you and your passengers to explore the amazing places and sights our beautiful country has to offer.
Our course is divided into three phases which includes a minimum of 4 dual and 2 solo cross country navigation exercises of approx 2.5 to 3 hours each, and a flight test. There is an optional fourth phase which adds navigation into and through controlled airspace (Class D and Class C). This is not a requirement of the RPC Navigation endorsement and this option does NOT permit RPC holders to fly as 'pilot in command' in controlled airspace. It is an option for those wishing to convert later to an RPL and to meet the requirements for the RPL navigation endorsement with minimal additional navigation training in a GA aircraft. You can discuss this option in detail with your instructor.
PHASE ONE – Covers flight planning and pure navigation techniques. Each lesson is conducted outside controlled airspace to minimise procedures so you can learn to navigate properly from the beginning.
PHASE TWO – Consists of low-level navigation techniques and ‘lost’ procedures
PHASE THREE – Consolidates what you have learned in phases one and two and introduces more challenging dual and solo navigation exercises and diversion techniques (and your flight test if you are not including Phase four).
PHASE 4 (Optional) - Focuses on controlled airspace procedures and a dual practice flight. At the conclusion of phase four you will be able to navigate confidently through controlled and uncontrolled airspace anywhere in Australia.
Before starting your first flight planning lesson of the course, you will need to have a comprehensive list of 'equipment' for the planning of each cross country flight, see Navigation Equipment List. To make this process easy for our students and to standardise on the equipment used for all navigation training, we have packaged everything you will need into a Navigation Starter Kit. So, to enroll in our Navigation Course simply select the 'Navigation Starter Kit' above and complete the checkout and payment process. Your instructor will then issue the Navigation Equipment to you on your first navigation course lesson, so you will have everything you need to get straight into your training. Like the RPC course, just 'pay as you' go at the end of each Navigation lesson. If you already have some navigation equipment that is suitable for the course, we will credit the price difference to your next lesson.Your training will be conducted in the Sting RG or Pioneer 300 aircraft.
Navigation 'Revision' Course
We find that most pilots, after gaining their Navigation Endorsement, abandon the manual techniques they learned and use one of the excellent navigation apps available these day on Ipad or smart phone., for example: 'Oz Runways'. Therefore their manual navigation skills they learnt during training are quickly forgotten. It is therefore very useful to occasionally do some 'revision' or 'remedial' training so if everything electronic stops working you can still find your way home using just a map, pencil, watch and compass! The course includes the following:
- ground school - 90 minute 'flight planning' exercise
- How to complete and submit your flight plan to Airservice (via NAIPS)
- Three hour navigation flight exercise (using map, pencil, watch & compass only!)
'Oz Runways' Navigation Course
Applications like Oz Runways offer fantastic advantages in reducing pilot navigation workload and opportunities for human errors. While we believe that basic navigation principles should not be forgotten, as technology improves (and regulations permit!) pilots would be foolish not to learn how to use these modern applications. However, like most 'software' applications these days, we tend to only use a small percentage of the applications features through 'trial and error'. We have therefore developed a course that teaches you to use Oz Runways making use of the important planning and navigation features of this excellent application and applying them on a real flight navigation exercise. You will learn how to:
- plan your flight using Oz Runways
- use Oz Runways to submit your flight plan to AIrservices
- Gain confidence in using the important navigation features of Oz Runways on an actual 3 hour practice navigation (not a class room simulation!)
- The practice flying is conducted in our Sting RG Turbo at Gympie.
NOTE: The Oz Runways Application, an IPad or Smart Phone are NOT provided. The Course requires students to use their own IPad, Tablet or Smart Phone with the latest release of the Oz Runways Application installed and with a valid subscription.
Recreational Flight Training conducted at Gympie (Kybong) Airfield is administered by Gold Coast Sports Flying Training
* Flights from Caloundra Airfield operate through GoFly Aviation facilities.