Definition
A low or medium frequency long-range navigation aid that transmits a slowly rotating pattern of dots and dashes from a ground station. A pilot determines a bearing line from the station by counting the number of dots and dashes received during one transmission cycle and referencing a Consolan chart.
Plain English
An older long-range radio navigation system that lets a pilot work out the direction from a ground station to the aircraft by counting audio dots and dashes in a special pattern, then looking the count up on a chart.
Context Anchor
Seen in older navigation references and FAA glossary material, rather than as a system most student pilots will use in normal cockpit operations today.
Derivation
The name is a contraction of 'consol' (the earlier German wartime system 'Sonne', renamed 'Consol' by the Allies, meaning 'console' or central station) plus 'an' for the American adaptation. Knowing it is the U.S. version of the older Consol system helps explain why it appears in long-range navigation contexts.
Why Pilots Care
Consolan stations are essentially obsolete and replaced by GPS and other modern systems, but the term still appears in glossaries and older charts. Recognizing it prevents confusion with active navaids like VOR or NDB.
Intuition Check
Do not read Consolan as a general description or a modern GPS-based system. It is the name of an older long-range radio navigation aid.
Example Sentence 1
The old chart still showed a Consolan station on the coast, but the pilot used GPS for the overwater leg instead.
Example Sentence 2
Older charts still mark Consolan stations that were once used for long-range navigation before modern systems replaced them.