RNAV is short for 'Area Navigation'.

In the old days you used to have to fly directly over the navigation aids on the ground (VOR, NDB etc) to make your
route. It meant a slightly zig-zag course for your flight as you couldn't get the navaids in a perfect line between every possible city pair. Then when
computers started getting into planes, it was possible for the computer to 'create' an imaginary navigation aid based on a direction and distance from a real
one on the ground. So you could draw a straight line from your origin to destination, and create the waypoints based on the computer figuring the direction
and distance from some nearby navaids (usually VORs) and using that to fly a straight route. Nowadays, RNAV is also loosely used to describe any 'straight
line' navigation method like GPS, as well as the old RNAV method too.

LNAV is the route you fly over the ground. The plane may be using VORs, GPS, DME, or any combination of
the above. It's all transparent to the pilot, as he enters his route as specified in the clearance and flight plan
into the FMS (Flight Management System).
The route shows up as a magenta line on the lower flight display, and as long as the autopilot is engaged in
the LNAV mode, it will follow that line across the ground. LNAV however does not tell the plane what
altitude to fly, and that is where...

VNAV comes in. Vertical Navigation is where the specified altitudes at particular waypoints are entered
into the FMS, and the computer figures the best way to accomplish what you want. For instance, if you are
flying with the autopilot on in VNAV mode at cruise altitude, you can enter what speed you desire to make
a descent at, and what altitude you wish to cross a particular point, and the computer will figure out where
to bring the throttles to idle and begin a descent, to allow you to cross to that point in the most economical
manner. VNAV also works in climb. There are airspeed restrictions at various altitudes, and if you are in
VNAV, it will fly the plane at the desired power setting and angle to achieve the speed (and efficiency) you
wish.

In reality, we spend most of our flying with both LNAV and VNAV engaged. If the autopilot is off, LNAV and
VNAV still send their signals to the flight director so we can hand fly the plane the way the autopilot would
if it were flying.

So in summary, RNAV is a method of navigation, and LNAV/VNAV are subsystems of the autoflight system.
LNAV is the course (in 2 dimensions) across the ground, and VNAV is the flight path (in 2 dimensions) up
and down

A. GENERAL

Area Navigation (RNAV) can be defined as a method of navigation that permits aircraft operation on any desired course within
the coverage of station-referenced navigation signals or within the limits of a self contained system capability, or a combination
of these.

RNAV was developed to provide more lateral freedom and thus more complete use of available airspace. This method of
navigation does not require a track directly to or from any specific radio navigation aid, and has three principal applications:
 1. A route structure can be organized between any given departure and arrival point to reduce flight distance and traffic
separation;
2. Aircraft can be flown into terminal areas on varied pre-programmed arrival and departure paths to expedite traffic flow;
and
3. Instrument approaches can be developed and certified at certain airports, without local instrument landing aids at that
airport.

Navigation systems which provide RNAV capability include VOR/DME, DME/DME, LORAN C (phased out in February
2010), GPS, OMEGA (no longer in use) and self contained Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) or Inertial Reference Systems
(IRS).

B. VOR/DME

A common general aviation RNAV system is the track-line computer (TLC), based on azimuth and distance information from a
VORTAC. It is also called the RHO-THETA system. With the track-line computer the pilot effectively moves or off-sets the
VORTAC to any desired location if it is within reception range. This "phantom station" is created by setting the distance (RHO)
and the bearing (THETA) of the waypoint from a convenient VORTAC in the appropriate windows of the waypoint selector
(see VOR/DME RNA figure, below). A series of these "phantom stations" or waypoints make up an RNAV route.
The Area Navigation Route figure, below, illustrates how the VOR/DME RNAV is used to navigate from Belgrade to Haines
on a direct route. This route crosses the 180º radial 23 NM south of the Mystic VORTAC. Therefore, the pilot sets waypoint #1
as 180/23 on the control panel. Waypoint #2 is 15 nautical miles (NM) from MEEKER VORTAC on the 360º radial, or 360/15
on the panel. Waypoint #3 is 360/22.

The direct route from Belgrade to Haines is 191 NM, 24 NM less than the VICTOR airway route.
The pilot could also place waypoint #3 on the destination airport, allowing navigation from waypoint #2 direct to the Haines
airport. The DME readout would give a constant indication of the remaining distance to the destination. The pilot would specify
waypoint #3 as 064/49 (in reference to the MILTON VORTAC). Modern Flight Management Systems (FMS) often use
DME/DME (RHO-RHO) systems which compare numerous DME signals (when coverage is available) to provide position and
time and distance information.

C. LORAN-C (phased out for Maritime use in February 2010)

LORAN-C is a pulsed hyperbolic system operating in the 90 to 110 kilohertz (kHz) frequency band which is used for marine and
air navigation where signal coverage is available. The system is based upon the measurement of the time difference in the arrival
of signal pulses from a group or chain of stations. A chain consists of a master station linked to a maximum of four secondary
stations with all of the signals synchronized with the master. The LORAN-C receiver measures the time difference between the
master and at least two of the secondaries to provide a position fix.
The North American LORAN-C coverage area is limited to the continental United States, southern Canada and the east and west
coasts (see Loran-C Coverage figure, below).

LORAN-C system inaccuracies are mainly attributable to distance from the ground station, receiver geometry relative to ground
transmitter baselines, and propagation anomalies associated with the earth's surface.

Because of the good repeatable accuracy of LORAN-C where adequate signal strength is available, the system has the potential
to be used for non-precision approaches. Most LORAN-C receivers used in general aviation are approved for VFR use only.
Equipment that is approved for IFR use should be clearly indicated in the aircraft or in the aircraft log books. It is the pilot's
responsibility to ascertain the IFR approval status of installed LORAN-C equipment before commencing an IFR flight.

. GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM)

GPS is a satellite positioning system developed by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) for use on land, sea and in
the air. It will likely be the major component of the ICAO - designated GNSS -Global Navigation Satellite System. The full GPS
constellation has 24 operational satellites to provide continuous, highly accurate three-dimensional position information
globally. The Russian GLONASS system and European INMARSAT may add satellites to the GNSS constellation to provide
redundancy.

1. How DOES GPS WORK?: Operating in l 1,900 NM orbits, each satellite continuously transmits signals on 1227.6 and
1575.42 MHz. The GPS receiver automatically selects the signals from four or more satellites to calculate a three-dimensional
position, velocity and time. Using the un-encrypted coarse acquisition navigational signal (C/A code) which will be available to
all civil users, system accuracy will be at least 100 meters horizontally and 140 metres vertically, 95% of the time. Unlike
ground based navigation systems, GPS provides global coverage with virtually no signal inaccuracies associated with
propagation in the earth's atmosphere. Signal masking can occur with mountainous terrain, man-made structures and with poor
antenna location on the aircraft. It is significant that GPS accuracy is better than anything we have had before for en route and
non-precision approach guidance.
 Example of a panel mounted GPS without moving map features

Each GPS satellite has 4 atomic clocks on board, because precise timing is the key to GPS navigation; this guarantees an
accuracy of one nanosecond, or one billionth of a second. The satellites broadcast this time along with data used by receivers to
calculate satellite position.

Stations located around the world monitor the performance of the satellites, and a master control station in Colorado Springs has
the capability to send up corrections if errors are detected.

In addition to accurate 3-D position information, GPS also gives a direct reading of velocity - both speed and direction of
motion. This means that displayed groundspeeds are very responsive to actual speed changes, and pilots will notice a marked
improvement over groundspeeds generated by DME or LORAN-C. The availability of direction of motion allows quicker
warning of off-course deviations, making for smoother operation.
2. DIFFERENTIAL GPS: Differential techniques can be used to achieve the accuracy required for more demanding operations.
This is done by locating a receiver on the ground at a precisely-surveyed position. This receiver is also able to calculate the
errors in the satellite signals. These errors can be data linked to aircraft in the form of corrections which can be applied by the
aircraft receiver to reduce position error to as low as 2 to 5 metres.

There are two types of differential, local and wide. Local is essentially described above. Wide area differential would use
ground stations spaced hundreds of miles apart feeding a master control station which would send correction data up to
geostationary satellites.

3. ACCURACY AVAILABILITY AND INTEGRITY: Aviation navigation systems must meet stringent accuracy, availability
and integrity requirements. Accuracy and availability are obvious. Integrity is the ability of the system to warn a user when there
is something wrong with the system. For example, ILS signals are monitored electronically, and if the monitors detect a 
malfunction they must shut down the ILS within 6 seconds. This results in a flag on the flight deck and a missed approach.

One way to achieve integrity is through receiver design, and the GPS receiver TSO C-129 calls for Receiver
Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM). RAIM requires at least 6 satellites in view. The more the better. RAIM works by
comparing position solutions using different combinations of satellites.  Comparing these solutions can lead to the conclusion
that a satellite is broadcasting incorrect data, and the receiver can then ignore that satellite.

.WARNING.

Only GPS receivers which meet TSO C-129 are currently approved as the primary navaid for IFR operations. If this
standard is not met, grossly incorrect data may be supplied by the satellite with no error indication.