Prepare for Intercepting and Tracking Courses (VOR, GPS, DME Arcs) | Lesson Prep

Your CFI's syllabus and your airplane's POH come first. This page is a general study aid to help you show up prepared.

What you'll do

Tune, identify (Morse code) and confirm navaids before use.
Intercept at an appropriate angle (often 30–45°), turning to the course as the needle centers.
Bracket to find the wind correction, then hold it.
On a DME arc, turn in small steps to keep the distance constant.

Quoted from the current FAA Airman Certification Standards for each level that tests this.

Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C)Task IR.V.A · Intercepting and Tracking Navigational Systems and DME Arcs

Tune and identify the navigation facility/program the navigation system and verify system accuracy as appropriate for the equipment installed in the aircraft.
Determine aircraft position relative to the navigational facility or waypoint.
Set and orient to the course to be intercepted.
Intercept the specified course at appropriate angle, inbound to or outbound from a navigational facility or waypoint.
Maintain airspeed ±10 knots, altitude ±100 feet, and selected headings ±5°.
Apply proper correction to maintain a course, allowing no more than ¾-scale deflection of the course deviation indicator (CDI). If a distance measuring equipment (DME) arc is selected, maintain that arc ±1 nautical mile.
Recognize navigational system or facility failure, and when required, report the failure to air traffic control (ATC).
Use a multi-function display (MFD) and other graphical navigation displays, if installed, to monitor position, track wind drift, and to maintain situational awareness.
At the discretion of the evaluator, use the autopilot to make appropriate course intercepts, if installed.
Use single-pilot resource management (SRM) or crew resource management (CRM), as appropriate.

The official chapters behind this page. Each link opens the exact chapter, free on faa.gov. See the full Study Library.