How would pilots ever get around so easily without the help of navigation aides? Navigational aides have been around for almost as long as aircraft have been flying in the skies above us. The first navigation system was composted of just a high intensity-flashing beacon. These beacons were placed on the flight routes that were popularly flown in the mid 1920's. With more time more of these technologies that help us navigate the world will be even simpler than today. This paper will explain how some navigational aides work and how some of them came into existence.
Flight Management Systems
Flight management systems are one of the best navaids in commercial aviation. The flight management system (FMS) is made up of four systems in an …show more content…
Non-Directional Beacons NDBs may be located on the surface of airports, or may be within a few miles from an airport. Sometimes they are co-located with the Outer Marker in ILS approaches. The NDB provides two principal functions; (1) homing for VFR operations, and (2) ADF instrument approach capability for IFR operations. NDB frequencies are received on the ADF receiver in the aircraft. The frequencies that NDB's operate are within the range of 190 to 535 KHz. The ADF in the aircraft has two separate antennas to which it picks up the NDB frequency, the loop antenna and the sense antenna. The loop antenna can sense the direction of the signal from the station, but cannot discriminate whether the station is in front or behind the aircraft. The sense antenna can discriminate direction, and solves the ambiguity of the loop antenna.
Navigation aides are vital to the aviation industry. You can only fly so far by dead reckoning before you get lost and need assistance to find your way. With the help of navaids people are now able to fly internationally to wherever in the world they want. Without the help of navigation aides the aviation industry would have never gotten to the point it is today and would never have gotten off the ground.

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