Continuing my curiosity quest inspired by Can GPS Spoofing Fool a Flight Navigator?, it seems that the US Air Force and Navy are the only reliable sources of air navigator training available today. But in either case, it is not a dedicated aviation occupation, as it once was during World War II, for example. In 2009, the Air Force merged its three Undergraduate Navigator Training tracks—navigator, weapon systems officer (WSO), and electronic warfare officer (EWO)—into a single training program. The resulting combat systems officer (CSO) training produces aviators who can readily adapt to mission requirements.
The 2009 consolidation of navigator training coincided with the closure of Mather AFB, where the Air Force trained them. Since then, CSO start their education at NAS Pensacola, Florida, with the Navy’s Training Air Wing Six, which educates naval flight officers. Established in 1966, NFOs specialize in airborne weapon sensor systems, and navigation is a fundamental duty, especially in tactical jets like the bombardier-navigators on A-6 Intruders. Given the increased navigation challenges posed by the mobility of not only their targets but especially their aircraft carrier mothership, navigation has been an especially critical skill for all naval aviation crews, and why cockpit plotting boards were standard equipment on single-engine naval aircraft during World War II.
Responding to my call to communicate with someone who holds an FAA navigator certificate, in an email, Al Herndon of Virginia sent a photo of his FLIGHT NAVIGATOR CERTIFICATE, Cert. No. 1924091, originally issued in 1969 (which I will not share for privacy reasons). What follows is his fascinating journey.
“In 1967, I was a Navy pilot flying C-130s in and out of Vietnam. In those days, ALL multi-engine pilots in the Navy were required to go to the Navy’s Navigator Training Squadron (VT-29) after they received their Naval Aviator’s Wings and before reporting to their first squadron. So, ALL Navy multi-engine pilots had to be a qualified Navy navigator.
“My first squadron was Naval Air Transport Squadron Three (VR-3) at McGuire AFB, New Jersey. VR-3 was part of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). After VR-3 I received orders back to VT-29 at NAS Corpus Christi as a pilot flying Air Force T-29s (Convair 440s) celestial navigator training aircraft (on loan from the USAF Navigator Training School at Mather AFB) and Navy C-117s (DC-3s) celestial navigator training aircraft. All VT-29 pilots had to qualify as Navy Navigator Instructors, so I went through the school a second time.
“In 1968 I left the Navy and went to work for Pan American World Airways as a Boeing 707 Relief Co-Pilot (RCO) based in San Francisco. Pan Am was in the process of firing all their Professional Navigators and installing Litton Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) in their B-707s. That didn’t work out well (long story) and in 1969 Pan Am sent the bottom 200 pilots to its Navigator Training School. The FAA had suddenly mandated that a Flight Navigator was required again on San Francisco based flights south and west of Honolulu and on any flight where one of the dual Doppler units was INOP.
“Consequently (I was 20 from the bottom of the Pan Am seniority list) I went to the Pan Am’s Navigator Training School, completed ground school (4 weeks), passed the FAA Navigator Written Test. With an instructor, I flew as a student on four navigator training flights, all night flights to and from Honolulu, and then passed a check ride with a FAA Examiner, a night flight to Honolulu.
“The navigator FAA Written Test made the ATP Exam look like child’s play. We were bombarded with questions (and answers) for two days before the exam. Even with all my prior experience and four additional weeks of ground school (which was basically a refresher for me) I have always wondered if I could have passed that exam without the “gouge. Pan Am furloughed me in 1970 and I went to work for Trans World Airlines, where I retired as a Boeing 767 captain.
“Since one can install a portable GPS in any aircraft, a certified FLIGHT NAVIGATOR is no longer required. However, to fly oceanic an operator needs to comply with AC 91-70C AND have the OPSPECS required in the FAA “Oceanic and Remote Continental Operations” guide. Both require “training” but no requirement for a Navigator certificate if the required equipment is installed in the aircraft.
“After retiring from TWA I worked for 19 years at The MITRE Corporation [the FAA’s federally funded R&D Center] in their Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development (CAASD), where I was a [subject matter expert] for flight management computers and Performance Based Aviation and company liaison to both domestic and international airlines. One time I observed a FAA ramp check of a Colombian cargo DC-8 in Miami and both their VOR/DME and ADF’s were INOP, however; they had one portable Garmin GPS with wire antenna that was attached to the captain’s side window with a suction cup. That satisfied the FAA inspector that they could legally depart Miami.
“During the years at MITRE I occasionally asked FAA Flight Standards if there was anyone left that could give a Flight Navigator initial or line check and the answer was always (paraphrasing), “Who knows?” One FAA friend told me that they could give the written test if they could find a copy and they could probably work something out for a check ride but they always asked, “Why would someone want that qual?”, and where would the applicant get the required flight experience?”
“I have asked a friend who currently works in Flight Standards if there is still a way to get a Navigator license and he said he would check with AFS-600 and would get back to me. My gut feeling is that it will be a lost art.”
Given the results of my curiosity quest, I must agree with Al. But the problem is that complacent reliance on a single source for a critical component of aviation safety, such as knowing where you are and how to get where you want to go, is an invitation to unwanted destinations. — Scott Spangler, Editor
PS email from Al Herndon: “Just heard back from a friend of mine who used to be in AFS-600 and is now a manager in 800. He said that the FAA (AFS-800) still has the Flight Navigator Certificate, but he’s not sure if there are any FAA designees left that can issue it (I think that the FAA would need to “create one” if a request came in). He asked if someone is actually trying to get a Flight Navigator Certificate — and if so — to let him know.”
I enjoyed the story and it brought back memories. I attended VT-29 in 1968, in preparation of being assigned to a P-3B squadron in Brunswick, ME. I trained in the T-29 and C-117. I completed the training but since I was going to be the 3rd pilot on the P-3 I didn’t get the Flight Navigator certification. Of interest, little did I know at the time (1968) that six years later I would be flying a C-117D as PIC in Iceland. I flew it as collateral duty (get my required flight time) as I was assigned a desk job in the Operations (J3) of the Iceland Defence Force command.
Perhaps the FAA certification requirements could be met by use of a planetarium for the Flight Navigator night check ride. For daytime, I am not sure of the degree of accuracy, but the Microsoft 2020 flight simulator does have the daytime sun depicted and allows one to change time of day in flight. Stars are not simulated with any accuracy, though.
Cannot see any reason why real world flight navigation would be any more challenging in terms of skill than sitting in an airconditioned planetarium or a qualified simulation rig.
If navigation in turbulence needed to be practiced, there are affordable 3DOF and 6DOF motion rigs. Like the Ukraine company “DOF Reality”. Thanks for the fascinating look at history.
Fantastic stories and info. I was a “navigator†20 or so years ago during college flying competitions, loved it, and recently have become interested in the subject again. I’d love to get the certificate but see no practical way to gain the required experience.