It was also his job to provide the pilot with the necessary directions to fly from where you are to where you want to go. Navigation, using the procedures practiced in WWII, was an art and not a science. However, during ideal situations, it could be reasonably accurate. The purpose of the Advanced Navigation School was to teach students to navigate accurately under those ideal conditions, and to navigate successfully under non-ideal situations. The training at Mather field was a combination of ground school, to learn the processes, and air time, to practice what was learned on the ground.
Pilotage is a method of determining location of an airplane by following a map.
The ability to perform pilotage requires that the navigator recognize features on the ground and locate them on the map. Continuously following the map over a distance enables him to plot a course that is being followed, and correct the course if necessary. Obviously, this method can only be used when visibility outside the airplane is good. Dead reckoning is a method of navigation that can be performed whether visibility is good or not, and is normally carried on under all conditions of flight to some extent as a cross-check of the accuracy of other methods of determining position, and as a convenient method of maintaining the log sheet. It uses such aircraft instruments as the compass, the air speed meter, the altimeter, and others.