If you’re training for your PPL, the VFR navigation log is probably the part of cross-country planning that feels most like homework — a grid of columns, headings, and numbers that all have to agree. But once you understand what each column is asking for and the order you fill them in, a nav log becomes fast and almost mechanical.
This guide walks through a VFR navigation log column by column, shows you a worked example for a single leg, and points out the mistakes that most often send student pilots back to the drawing board.
A quick note before we start. This is an educational guide, not official instruction. Follow the procedures taught by your instructor and the guidance of your national authority. Nothing here replaces proper flight training or current charts and forecasts.
What a VFR navigation log actually does
A navigation log turns your planned route into flyable numbers. For each leg between two checkpoints it tells you which heading to fly, how long the leg should take, how much fuel it will burn, and how much fuel you’ll have left. In the air, it becomes your reference: if the next checkpoint arrives on time, you’re on plan; if it doesn’t, the log helps you work out why.
Everything on the log flows from three inputs you gather before you fill anything in: your route, the forecast wind and temperature at your cruising altitude, and your aircraft’s true airspeed and fuel burn.
Step 1 — Plan the route before you fill the log
Start on the chart, not the form. Draw your course line, then pick checkpoints — clear visual landmarks such as towns, lakes, or airfields, roughly every ten to fifteen nautical miles. Good checkpoints are unmistakable from the air and spaced so you’re never guessing for long. Each segment between two checkpoints becomes one leg, and one row, on your nav log.
Step 2 — Understand the columns
A VFR nav log reads left to right, and the columns build on one another. Here’s what each one is asking for.
Checkpoint / Fix
The name of the landmark at the end of the leg. The first row is your departure point; each row after is the next checkpoint along the route.
True Course (TC)
The direction of your course line measured against true north, taken from the chart with a plotter. This is the foundation every heading is built from.
Wind (direction / velocity)
The forecast wind at your cruising altitude, from the winds-and-temperatures-aloft forecast. Remember that winds aloft are given relative to true north, which is exactly what you want at this stage.
True Airspeed (TAS)
The speed your aircraft actually moves through the air at your chosen altitude and power setting — not the indicated airspeed. You’ll usually take this from your POH performance tables and correct for altitude and temperature.
Wind Correction Angle (WCA) and True Heading (TH)
Because the wind pushes you sideways, you crab into it. The wind correction angle is how many degrees you turn into the wind to track the course line, and your true heading is the true course adjusted by that angle. A flight computer (E6B) or the automatic cells in a nav-log template work this out from your TC, TAS, and wind.
Groundspeed (GS)
Your actual speed over the ground once the wind is accounted for — a headwind component lowers it, a tailwind raises it. Groundspeed is what drives your timing and fuel, so it matters more than any other speed on the log.
Variation → Magnetic Heading (MH)
Your compass points to magnetic north, not true north, and the difference is variation, printed on the chart. Apply it to your true heading to get magnetic heading. The old reminder is “east is least, west is best” — subtract easterly variation, add westerly.
Deviation → Compass Heading (CH)
Metal and electrics in the aircraft nudge the compass slightly; this is deviation, read from the compass correction card in the cockpit. Apply it to your magnetic heading to get the compass heading — the number you’ll actually fly.
The full chain, in order, is: True Course → True Heading → Magnetic Heading → Compass Heading. A common way to remember it is “True Virgins Make Dull Company.”
Distance (leg and remaining)
The leg distance measured from the chart, plus a running total of distance remaining if your log has that column.
Time (leg ETE and ETA)
The leg’s estimated time en route, calculated from the leg distance and your groundspeed, and the estimated time of arrival at that checkpoint. These are what you check against the clock in flight.
Fuel (leg burn and remaining)
The fuel used on the leg, from your burn rate and leg time, plus fuel remaining as a running total. This column is your fuel-management picture for the whole flight.
Frequencies
A handy place to note the frequencies you’ll need along the route — ATIS, tower, ground, and any nav aids — so they’re in front of you rather than buried in a chart.
Step 3 — The order you actually fill it in
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The columns build in a fixed sequence. Measure the true course and distance from the chart. Bring in the wind and TAS, and from those work out the WCA, true heading, and groundspeed. Apply variation to reach magnetic heading, then deviation to reach the compass heading you’ll fly. Finally, use groundspeed and distance to get time, and time to get fuel. Do that for every leg and your log is complete — and it feeds straight into your ICAO flight plan when you file.
This is also where a spreadsheet template earns its place: the wind triangle, groundspeed, time, and fuel are all repetitive arithmetic that a well-built nav log calculates the moment you type in your course, wind, and speed. Our Pilot Navigation Log for Excel does exactly that — you enter the figures once and the wind-corrected heading, groundspeed, elapsed time, and fuel remaining fill in automatically.
A worked example: one leg
Say a leg runs from your departure airfield to a lakeside town:
- Checkpoint: the town at the lake
- True Course: measured off the chart, say 090°
- Wind: forecast 120° at 20 kt at your altitude
- TAS: 110 kt from the POH
- WCA / True Heading: the wind is from your right, so you crab right — the computer gives, say, a few degrees of correction and a true heading a touch south of course
- Groundspeed: slightly below TAS because of the headwind component
- Variation: apply the chart value to get magnetic heading
- Deviation: apply the correction card value to get the compass heading you fly
- Distance: the leg length from the chart
- Time: distance ÷ groundspeed
- Fuel: time × burn rate, then subtract from fuel remaining
Fly that compass heading, start your timer overhead the departure point, and check whether the lake town shows up on schedule. If it’s early or late, your groundspeed — and therefore your wind estimate — needs adjusting for the legs ahead.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Confusing true and magnetic. Winds aloft and chart courses are true; the heading you fly is compass. Skip a step in the chain and you’ll fly the wrong number.
- Using TAS instead of groundspeed for timing. Timing and fuel always come from groundspeed.
- Checkpoints that are too vague. A single road crossing is hard to spot; a town beside a lake is not.
- Forgetting the compass correction card. Deviation is small but real, and it’s the last step before the number you fly.
- No running fuel total. Leg burn alone doesn’t tell you when you must land — fuel remaining does.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between true course and true heading? True course is the direction of your line on the chart. True heading is that course adjusted for wind so you actually track the line.
Do I need an E6B if my nav log calculates automatically? A template speeds up planning enormously, but knowing how to work the wind triangle by hand is part of your training and your backup if the numbers ever look wrong.
How far apart should checkpoints be? Commonly around ten to fifteen nautical miles, but pick landmarks by how clearly you can identify them rather than by distance alone.
Is a VFR nav log the same as a flight plan? No — the nav log is your planning worksheet. The ICAO flight plan is the formal message you file with ATC, and your nav log gives you the figures to complete it.
Plan faster with a nav log that does the maths
If you’d rather spend your time flying than running wind triangles by hand, our Pilot Navigation Log for Excel auto-calculates wind-corrected heading, groundspeed, estimated elapsed time, leg fuel, and fuel remaining — just enter your course, wind, and speed. Print it for the kneeboard or use it on a tablet. One-time purchase, no subscription — see it here.
This article is for educational purposes and does not replace flight instruction. Always plan with current charts and forecasts and follow the guidance of your instructor and aviation authority.
