AERIAL NAVIGATION, the science of ascertaining the position of an aircraft and setting its course in a designed direction.
The possibility of applying the methods and instruments used for the older science of maritime navigation to navigation in the air, has naturally been thoroughly explored, but certain funda mental differences need to be allowed for. The speeds of aircraft are several times greater than those of ocean liners ; the wind velocities are usually much greater and far less consistent than ocean currents; further, the weight of navigating instruments which can be carried in an aircraft, and the space available for their use are limited.
The most elementary method of navigation is the recognition, either from maps or from previous experience, of the country over which the aircraft is flying ; for this purpose, maps have been made which give prominence to railways, rivers and other objects con spicuous from aircraft.