What is pilotage in navigation?

• A. Navigating by visual reference to landmarks and geographic features.
• B. Using autopilot to maintain course.
• C. Relying solely on radio navigation aids.
• D. Estimating position by time and fuel on board.

Answer: (A)

Pilotage is navigating by visual references to landmarks and geographic features along the route. You use what you can see on the ground—coastlines, lakes, mountains, roads, towns—and compare those features with your chart to determine your position. By identifying at least two fixed landmarks and matching them to the map, you can fix where you are and chart a course to the next point. This approach is common when operating under visual flight rules or when electronic navigation aids aren’t required or available.

Autopilot simply keeps the aircraft on a chosen heading, but it doesn’t help you figure out your location, so it isn’t pilotage. Relying solely on radio navigation aids uses signals from ground-based navaids rather than visual ground features. Estimating position by time and fuel on board is dead reckoning, which projects position from a known point using speed and elapsed time rather than identifying real-world landmarks.