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Pilotage is the use of fixed visual references on the ground or sea to guide oneself to a destination. Pilotage is used by people guiding vessels and aircraft, by hikers and SCUBA divers. There are other, more advanced methods of navigation using tools, such as compasses, maps, nautical charts, radar and ultimately satellite navigation systems like GPS.Pilotage depends on the pilot being able to recognise the visual references in order to make use of them. The pilot must either be familiar with those visual references or be able to discover them from a map, aeronautical chart or nautical chart. Many nautical and aeronautical diasters have resulted from the pilot incorrectly identifying visual references. Natural features are particularly difficult to recognise accurately in conditions of poor visibility.
The term pilot refers to a person who is piloting and was originally used to describe the harbour pilot, who would help steer ships in and out of harbour avoiding local coastal hazards. Today it is more commonly used to refer to anyone who controls the flight of an aircraft.
Common types of visual reference point used for pilotage:
- During the day:
- Natural features:
- Mountains, hills, lakes, riverMurray River in Australia Australia A river is a large natural waterway. It is a specific term in the vernacular for large streams, stream being the umbrella term used in the scientific community for all flowing natural waterways. In the vernacular, streas and coastal features such as cliffIn geography, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are categorised as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments,s, rockRock is a substance composed of minerals and classified according to mineral composition. Rocks are generally clasified by the processes that formed them, and are thus separated into igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed frs and beachA beach or strand is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles such as sand, shingle, or cobble along the shoreline of a body of water. Components Some geologists consider a beach to be just this shoreline feature of deposited material, bues
- Man made nautical features:
- sea markA sea mark is a pilotage aid which identifies the position of a maritime channel, hazard and administrative area to allow boats, ships and seaplanes to navigate safely. There are two types sea mark: posts fixed to the sea bed buoys consisting of a floatins, land marks and radioFor other uses see: radio (disambiguation Radio is a technology that allows the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light. Radio waves Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, and are aerials
- Man made land features:
- At night:
- Man made nautical features:
- Man made land features:
- Airports, illuminated towers and buildings
Pilotage is frequently combined with navigation techniques such as dead reckoning. When a pilot at a known location cannot see the next visual reference on the route to a destination, he or she can use dead reckoning to get closer to the next reference point. This is the most common form of VFR navigation.
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