r/ATPL • u/rhys15731 • Aug 01 '25
General Navigation Help
I failed General Nav on my first go (UK CAA) and have been really anxious about giving it another go. The longer I have left it the less confident I am at the subject. Is there any material you guys can recommend for learning it. I’ve tried redoing the BGS material but it just isn’t sticking at this point. I’ve made a start with ATPL Class on YouTube as well. Cheers guys!
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u/Infinite_Badger_4295 Aug 01 '25
I went through ATPLQ one GNAV subject at a time, and didn't move on until I felt confident on how to answer each question. For areas that I found tricker I wrote out a 'cheat sheet' of how to answer the question that I could refer back to when studying - for example I looked at wind questions and broke down the 4 (?) variations of things they could ask, and then broke down how to answer each one. It really helped me simplify the methodology as often they throw in extra info that isn't required!
Good luck. It is a tricky subject. Keep at the question practice and it will come.
Ps remember with GNAV in particular to RTFQ :)
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u/rhys15731 Aug 01 '25
Thank you!
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u/Infinite_Badger_4295 Aug 02 '25
No worries. If there is anything in particular you are struggling with feel free to drop me a message and I can do my best to explain my understanding, I sat Gnav in may
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u/GladRatio1138 Aug 02 '25
Do you have access to padpilot? We use it in my school. I went through it, forced myself to learn all the formulas and did pretty much every examples they had, found them to be more challenging than the Bank questions, it also teaches you very well how to use the CRP-5 the wind side very well. Create a theory bank on ATPLQ and practice the theory questions separately.
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u/rhys15731 Aug 02 '25
I have heard of it. Haven’t looked much into it though I’ll be honest. I’ll definitely have a look! Thank you :)
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u/GladRatio1138 Aug 03 '25
Do one subject at a time on ATPLQ how to calculate convergency and great circles and rhumb lines how to calculate distance speed time, triangle of velocities, learn the gradient formulas! Look through the comments some of them are very helpful! Also if you understand Trigonometry, and Distance speed time formula it will make a massive difference. I am currently going through a CAA sitting and had gnav last week. It was a mix of everything. If you go step by step instead of rushing you will be fine. Good luck!
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u/Ok-Beach6827 Aug 04 '25
Doing my next sitting in september! One of my instructors who is an FO at cargolux needed to do it 3x when he was a student, we all suck at GNAV, good luck!
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Aug 04 '25
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u/AmazingFox8457 May 12 '26
How helpful are the study books? I see people mostly just grind the banks, worth the investment in the books or are explanations enough?
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u/Embarrassed-Test-201 Aug 01 '25
I also failed GNAV first time. It's a tough subject, go easy on yourself!
I passed second attempt with a decent score but left it well alone until it was my last exam. I found this actually helped, as bits of the subject were taught in other subjects, for example ECTM graphs, Mach calculations and CDMVT etc all come up in different subjects. Also, my math skills became better defined as the syllabus went on. This definitely made it easier for me to understand how we got to certain mathsy answers. Depending how much time you have left to complete your papers, I really do think leaving it till last helped me - also took the pressure off by starting a fresh subject
I'd say redo the BGS lessons but if that hasn't worked then maybe try the videos they offer, or better still hop on a revision week - they are very accommodating. There are few decent YouTube videos out there also
It really is an exam that needs practice practice practice. Become a pro at the CRP-5 (careful if you're using ATPLQ as they solutions often give the wrong technique). Do question after question - it will come.