Let's take a look at the various instruments needed to fly an aircraft safely and efficiently.

The Magnetic Compass is the most important instrument on the dashboard of an aircraft. Even today, all aircrafts that fly - be it the small piston engined machine or the Jumbo Jet - use the magnetic compass. The compass is the most useful instrument as it does not need any power to run it, and it can be used anywhere in the world to find out the North South East West points.

Every airport, small or big, every runway in the world is numbered based upon its orientation on a magnetic compass, and all airways and jet routes are assigned a compass course. For example, if you are starting from point A, and wish to fly to point B, if you know the distance to point B and that it is oriented at 65 degrees on the compass, all you need to do is set your course for 65 degrees and fly to your destination.

The VOR
The VHF omni directional range or the VOR has been in use for more than 50 years, The VOR is fairly simple equipment, to which transmitters located on the ground will broadcast special signals like locator beacons to all aircrafts within receiving range. Pilots simply tune into the signal which is received by the VOR which decodes the same and displays the aircraft's position with reference to the transmitting station.

The ILS
The Instrument Landing System or the ILR is a ground based system installed in all airports, and this guides the aircraft to safe landing during periods of poor weather resulting in low visibility.

Global Positioning System
GPS seems to be the future of all navigation. It is also used by people from all walks of life. At the touch of a button, this instrument will show your exact location, and you can navigate to any other location by using the maps that are stored in the instrument. In fact many of the pilots flying smaller aircraft use hand held GPSs to navigate safely in the sky. All information about airports, airways, and instrument procedure is loaded in the GPS, and needs periodic updating. It is believed that GPS may replace all the existing land based technology, giving users a more reliable, accurate and economical navigational system.

In addition to all these, the two way radio is installed on every aircraft so that the pilot can talk to the air traffic controllers to get all information needed.