Which DGCA Subject Should You Start With? An Instructor's Guide to Air Navigation, Meteorology and the CPL Papers (2026)

Every new batch asks me the same three questions in the first week: which DGCA subject should I start with, how tough are the papers really, and how do I get through Air Navigation and Technical General without losing confidence? After years of teaching these papers at Airborne Aviation in Dwarka, here is the honest answer I give my own students.

Key takeaways from the classroom

• Start with Air Navigation and Aviation Meteorology together: one is lengthy, the other is lighter, and they balance each other.
• Air Navigation is not tough, it is long. Daily practice is what clears it, not last-minute cramming.
• Inside Air Navigation, learn General Navigation first, because its basics are used in every other module.
• Meteorology is the paper students underestimate most. Treat it like physics, not like a memory test.
• Finish your instructor's question bank at least three times before the exam, but build on theory, not on question-spotting.

The DGCA CPL papers in one view

For a Commercial Pilot Licence, DGCA examines you in five theory papers through its online Pariksha portal: Air Navigation, Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulations, Technical General and Technical Specific (for the aircraft type you train on). You need 70% in each paper to pass. The radio telephony licence, RTR(A), is a sixth examination. It used to be held by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communications, but since November 2025 DGCA conducts it, and you apply through DGCA's online portal with your DGCA computer number. Check the current rules and session dates on the DGCA and Pariksha websites before you apply, because they are revised from time to time.

Before any of this, make sure you are medically fit. Clear at least your Class 2 medical, and ideally Class 1, before you pay for ground classes. Our DGCA medical guide and pilot eyesight guide explain how.

Which subject first, and how tough are the papers?

My advice is to begin with Air Navigation and Meteorology at the same time. The reasoning is simple. Navigation is long and needs daily practice. Meteorology is lighter in volume, so the two balance each other and you do not burn out on one heavy subject.

This is also how we run the day at Airborne: Air Navigation in the morning, Meteorology straight after, with Air Regulations and Technical General taught as their own batches so you can add them when you are ready. RTR runs as a parallel class with its own instructors.

Students arrive believing Air Navigation is the monster paper. It is not. It is lengthy, which is why people call it tough. There is a lot of ground to cover and plenty of calculation, but none of it is beyond a student who has passed Class 12 with Physics and Maths. What defeats people is irregular study, not the difficulty of the content.

Three habits decide the result:

1. Practise every day. Not three hours on Sunday. Every single day.
2. Do the homework your instructor gives you. It is set in the order that builds your basics.
3. Finish the question bank at least three times before you sit the exam. The first pass shows you the gaps, the second fixes them, the third makes you fast.

Keep those three habits and you give yourself the best possible chance in every paper. Skip them, and no amount of "tricks" will save you in the examination hall.

How to crack Air Navigation with confidence

Air Navigation has four parts: General Navigation, Mass & Balance and Performance, Instruments, and Radio Aids. The order you learn them in matters more than most students realise.

Start with General Navigation. Everything in it is used everywhere else: the nautical mile, direction, distance, speed and time. Once these basics are formed, the rest of the subject becomes easier because you are no longer fighting the fundamentals while learning new material.

Then do Mass & Balance. It is a completely different kind of topic and is not used in the other modules, so it is a clean block you can finish and bank.

Then move to Instruments and Radio Aids. By now your navigation basics are strong, so the pressure instruments, gyro instruments, VOR, DME and radar make sense instead of feeling like a list of disconnected facts.

The topics that confuse students most. In my classes, the same few topics create most of the doubts:

• Departure and convergency in General Navigation.
• Radio aids, especially VOR, DME and radar.
• Pressure instruments versus gyro instruments in the Instruments module.

My advice for all of them is the same. Keep listening to your instructor and practise in the sequence he suggests. Do not chase large, complicated problems. Focus on the small things, because if your basics are clear, you can crack everything else easily.

Meteorology: the paper nobody takes seriously enough

Here is something that surprises most students: Meteorology is the paper they underestimate most, and it shows in results. Why? Because everyone assumes Meteorology is easy. They plan to read a question bank, trust their luck and walk in. Some pass that way, and their stories convince the next batch that Met needs no class. So fewer students attend Met properly, and the results show it.

Meteorology is not a memory subject. It is closer to maths or physics. The weather questions that confuse students all come back to a handful of basics: the characteristics of temperature, pressure and density, and how temperature changes with pressure and altitude. Pressure differences make wind blow, wind moves air around, and that movement is what changes the weather. When these basics are clear, there is far less to memorise. You will still need to remember some facts, but the understanding carries most of the paper.

So my request to every student: do not focus too much on the question bank for Met. Focus on the theory first, attend the classes, and use the question bank to test yourself, not to replace understanding.

Air Regulations: start with the basics, not the fine print

For Air Regulations, begin with the fundamentals: aerodromes and airports, the basic definitions, the Rules of the Air, and Human Factors. These are the hot topics, and once they are clear the rest of the regulations fall into place around them. Students who start with obscure annexes and skip the definitions end up memorising without understanding, and that shows in the exam.

Technical General: four books, one method

Technical General is taught at Airborne as four books: Principles of Flight, Aircraft Systems, Piston Engines and Jet Engines. Together they cover how a wing produces lift and why an aircraft stalls, how the hydraulic, electrical, fuel, pressurisation and flight-control systems work, how a four-stroke piston engine runs and is cooled, lubricated and supercharged, and how a gas turbine produces thrust.

The method is the same one that works for Navigation. Get the principle clear first, then attach the details to it. A student who understands why lift changes with angle of attack does not need to memorise every graph; a student who understands the gas turbine cycle finds the questions on compressors, combustion and turbines predictable. Three practical points from the classroom:

• Engines carry a large share of the paper. Do not skip Jet Engines because you are training on a piston aircraft, and do not skip Piston Engines because you dream of an airliner. Both are examined.
• Learn systems as diagrams you can draw, not as paragraphs. If you can sketch a basic hydraulic circuit or a DC electrical bus from memory, the questions become easy.
• Keep a definitions list. Tech General is full of terms (dihedral, washout, critical altitude, bypass ratio) that come up as direct questions.

Technical Specific, the paper on your training aircraft, is short and is best done close to your flying, when the aircraft is in front of you.

RTR(A): the sixth exam, now with DGCA

The Radio Telephony Restricted (Aeronautical) licence lets you use the aircraft radio, and you need it for your CPL. It used to be examined by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communications. From November 2025, DGCA conducts the RTR(A) examination itself, under the Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and Licence Rules, 2025, and you apply through DGCA's online portal with your DGCA computer number. The examination has two parts: a written paper on radio theory, communication procedures and standard phraseology, and a practical test in which you handle a series of radio scenarios the way you would in the air.

RTR is not a paper to leave for last. Phraseology must become a habit, so the best way to prepare is to practise speaking the calls aloud every day for a few weeks, not to read them silently. At Airborne, RTR runs as a parallel class alongside the CPL subjects so students can finish it early. Because this examination has only just moved to DGCA, confirm the current format, fees and dates on the DGCA website before you apply.

A simple weekly plan that works

At Airborne, classes run Monday to Friday and Saturday is test day. I recommend the same rhythm to self-study students:

• Monday to Friday: attend class, do the homework the same evening, and solve a fixed number of questions every day.
• Saturday: sit a full test on the week's topics under exam timing.
• Sunday: go back only to the questions you got wrong, and fix the basic behind each one.

Repeat this for every module and the question bank will naturally be completed three times over by the time you register for the exam.

Frequently asked questions

Which DGCA subject is the toughest?
Air Navigation is the longest paper and needs the most practice, but it is not the hardest to pass if you study daily. In my experience, Meteorology trips up more students than they expect, because they underestimate it.

Which DGCA subject should I start with?
Start Air Navigation and Aviation Meteorology together. Within Navigation, begin with General Navigation, then Mass & Balance, then Instruments and Radio Aids.

How many times should I do the question bank?
At least three times before the exam, after you have understood the theory. Question banks are for testing yourself, not for replacing the classes.

Is Air Regulations easy?
It is manageable if you start with aerodromes, definitions, Rules of the Air and Human Factors, and build outward from there.

How much do I need to score in DGCA exams?
DGCA requires 70% in each theory paper. Confirm the current pass mark and session dates on the DGCA Pariksha portal.

Can I prepare for DGCA exams alongside my flying?
Yes, and many students do. But ground school does not need an aircraft, so finishing your theory early removes one source of delay in your CPL timeline. Read our guide on why 4 in 10 new Indian pilots trained abroad to see where the real delays come from.

My last word to students and parents. The DGCA exams reward consistency, not brilliance. Start Navigation and Meteorology together, build your basics in the right order, respect Meteorology, and practise every day. Do that and the papers that frighten most students will feel routine by the time you sit them.

Capt. Navrang Singh is co-founder of Airborne Aviation Academy, Dwarka, New Delhi, and teaches Air Navigation and Aviation Meteorology to CPL students. Last updated: 5 November 2026. Exam rules and session dates are set by DGCA and change from time to time; always confirm on the DGCA and Pariksha websites.