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Commercial Pilot Licence · Subject 18, AC61-5

CPL Flight Navigation General practice exam.

CPL Nav is the long paper: 45 questions in three hours, and almost all of it is computation. Heading and groundspeed from a wind, fuel from a leg time and a burn rate, point of no return and equal time point, time-zone arithmetic, altimetry corrections and the 1-in-60 rule, with chart reading and GNSS theory around them. Our bank of 250 questions covers all 19 sub-topics of Subject 18 of AC61-5.

Every numerical answer in the de-brief is a worked solution, so a wrong answer is diagnosed to the step, not just marked.

Questions45
Time180min
Pass mark70%
Question bank250
Sit a CPL Navigation paper · $9.99 CPL bundles from $6.67 an exam
What the paper covers

Subject 18 topic by topic.

The syllabus areas below are the ones the CAA lists for Flight Navigation General, and every question in the bank carries the code of the item it tests.

  • The form of the earth, direction, distance, speed and velocity
  • Position referencing and altimetry
  • Time: UTC, local time, sunrise and sunset
  • Chart properties, principles and chart reading
  • Navigation computations on the flight computer
  • The triangle of velocities
  • Route selection, chart and plan preparation
  • Fuel planning with reserves and contingency
  • VFR flight navigation and special procedures
  • Point of no return and equal time point
  • En route diversion calculations
  • Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Where the marks go

What catches people in Navigation.

  1. PNR and ETP with different groundspeeds out and home. Learn the formulas, then check the answer is closer to the slower end.
  2. Fuel: the legal reserve is 30 minutes by day and 45 by night under rule 91.305, and the question tells you which applies.
  3. Compass heading from true heading: variation then deviation, east least both times.
  4. Latest time of departure and time of arrival across the date line or the daylight-saving change.
From the bank

Sample Navigation questions.

Four questions as they appear in a paper, with the answer and the reasoning you get in the de-brief. Options are shuffled in the real thing.

CPL · Syllabus 18.46.6Sample 1 / 4

A VFR day cross-country leg of 80 minutes at 36 litres per hour, with 8 litres for start and taxi and the legal reserve. The minimum fuel required at engine start is:

  1. A81 litres (trip plus reserve plus 10% contingency and taxi)
  2. B48 litres (trip fuel only)
  3. C56 litres (trip plus taxi, no reserve)
  4. D74 litres (trip 48 + reserve 18 + taxi 8)
Show the answer and why
74 litres (trip 48 + reserve 18 + taxi 8)

Trip fuel = 80/60 x 36 = 48 L; rule 91.305 requires an aeroplane to carry fuel to fly for a further 30 minutes after the first point of intended landing by day = 30/60 x 36 = 18 L; plus start and taxi 8 L: total 74 L. Operators commonly add a contingency and alternate fuel, but the legal minimum is the figure shown. Reference: syllabus 18.46.6, 18.46.8; CAR 91.305.

CPL · Syllabus 18.34.4Sample 2 / 4

Track 070, TAS 140 kt, W/V 120/30. Heading and groundspeed are approximately:

  1. AHeading 061, GS 119 kt
  2. BHeading 079, GS 140 kt
  3. CHeading 079, GS 119 kt
  4. DHeading 061, GS 157 kt
Show the answer and why
Heading 079, GS 119 kt

Wind correction angle = +9 degrees (drift 9 degrees left), so heading = 079; groundspeed = 119 kt (headwind component about 21 kt). Check the sense: the heading is turned into wind, toward the side the wind is coming from. Reference: syllabus 18.34.4; FAA-H-8083-25 Ch. 16.

CPL · Syllabus 18.58.2Sample 3 / 4

Safe endurance (excluding reserves) 5 hours, groundspeed out 125 kt, groundspeed home 145 kt. The distance and time to the point of no return are:

  1. A403 NM, 193 minutes after departure
  2. B625 NM, 300 minutes after departure
  3. C336 NM, 161 minutes after departure
  4. D312 NM, 150 minutes after departure
Show the answer and why
336 NM, 161 minutes after departure

Distance to PNR = E x GS(out) x GS(home) / (GS(out) + GS(home)) = 5 x 125 x 145 / 270 = 336 NM; time to PNR = distance / GS(out) = 161 minutes (check: time home = 139 minutes, total 300 = 300 minutes of endurance). The PNR is the furthest point from which the aircraft can return to its departure aerodrome with the required reserves intact. Reference: syllabus 18.58.2(a); FAA-H-8083-25 Ch. 16.

CPL · Syllabus 18.44.2Sample 4 / 4

True heading 270, variation 21 degrees E, deviation 4 degrees E. The magnetic and compass headings are:

  1. AMagnetic 249, compass 253
  2. BMagnetic 249, compass 245
  3. CMagnetic 291, compass 295
  4. DMagnetic 291, compass 287
Show the answer and why
Magnetic 249, compass 245

'Variation east, magnetic least': magnetic = true - easterly variation = 270 - 21 = 249. 'Deviation east, compass least': compass = magnetic - easterly deviation (or + westerly) = 249 - 4 = 245. The order is true, variation, magnetic, deviation, compass ('True Virgins Make Dull Companions'). Reference: syllabus 18.4.4, 18.44.2(h); FAA-H-8083-25 Ch. 8 and Ch. 16.

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Navigation questions

Asked about this exam.

Straight answers. If yours is not here, email support and a person replies.

Our paper is 45 questions in 180 minutes, matched to the Aspeq CPL Flight Navigation General sitting. Pass mark 70%.

Most are. Roughly four in five questions in the bank need the flight computer or a calculator; the rest cover chart theory, GNSS and procedures.

Each stem states them: 1 US gallon = 3.785 litres, 1 kg = 2.205 lb, AVGAS specific gravity 0.72, 30 ft per hPa and 120 ft per degree of ISA deviation for altimetry.

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