how to calculate course airplane

by Dr. Oceane Ryan Sr. 9 min read

Step 1: Take our distance off course of 4 miles and multiply by 60 (4 x 60 = 240). Step 2: Divide 240 from step one by distance flown of 40 miles (240 / 40 = 6°). So at this point a 6° heading change would allow us to parallel our intended course.

Full Answer

How does the course calculator work?

The Course calculator outputs the course, ground speed, and wind correction angle based on the wind speed, true airspeed, wind direction, and heading inputs. Course Calculator | AirportGuide

How do course and bearing change when flying from one airport?

If you are going directly from one airport to the other, your course and bearing will be the same along the route of flight. If you are flying from an airport to a VOR to another airport, your course will change in each leg, as will your bearing. For this example we’re going to work backwards through the above mentioned directions.

How do I find the wind components of a plane?

You can find the wind components using the wind side of a flight computer. Winds aloft data is available from the National Weather Service, as well as from most flight planning apps and websites that pilots use.

What is the difference between heading and course in an aircraft?

In the event of a headwind or tailwind, heading and course in an aircraft are the same. For a ship at sea, if a current is running parallel to the heading, then the course is the same as the heading. In an aircraft, to correct for the difference between heading and course, a navigator uses the wind triangle.

How do you calculate course headings?

1:294:44E6B - Determining Magnetic Heading - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe 100 knot airspeed arc makes a good starting point measure up 16 knots from the center andMoreThe 100 knot airspeed arc makes a good starting point measure up 16 knots from the center and lightly mark it with a pencil.

How flight paths are calculated?

For pilots, direction is always expressed in relation to due north on a compass and measured clockwise. Hence, north is 360 degrees, east is 90 degrees and south is 180 degrees. The flight path, or track, is the actual direction the plane must go to get to the intended destination.

What is the course of a plane?

In navigation, the course of a watercraft or aircraft is the cardinal direction in which the craft is to be steered. The course is to be distinguished from the heading, which is the compass direction in which the craft's bow or nose is pointed.

How do you calculate magnetic course?

3:084:43How to Calculate Magnetic Course - For Student Pilots - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThat's going to be true course plus a negative magnetic variation in other words it's going to beMoreThat's going to be true course plus a negative magnetic variation in other words it's going to be true course minus eleven point seven five minus 12 minus 12 point two five.

What are flight routes?

A route is a description of the path followed by an aircraft when flying between airports.

How far off course is 1 degree?

sixty milesIt's used in aviation and is based on the fact that for every one degree you travel off course for sixty miles, you will land one mile from where you had intended. If you are traveling across our country, one degree off course will land you about 50 miles from your destination.

What is course and bearing?

Heading is the direction the airplane is pointed, whereas track is the actual direction of the airplane tracking across the ground. Bearing is the angle between any two points, whereas course is your intended path of travel to your destination.

What is course line?

[′kȯrs ‚līn] (navigation) A line of position plotted on a chart, parallel or substantially parallel to the intended course of a craft, showing whether the craft is to the right or the left of its course. Any line representing a course.

How does aviation calculate true course?

2:486:18Measuring True Course - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThere is a small hole. The hole is a reference point and we are going to place it over theMoreThere is a small hole. The hole is a reference point and we are going to place it over the intersection of the route and a line of longitude any.

How do I get an aviation magnetic course?

8:5511:25True/Magnetic Course/Heading - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipOr show the arithmetic. Again my true course plus my wind correction angle my true course is thisMoreOr show the arithmetic. Again my true course plus my wind correction angle my true course is this angle right here. And if I were to show those little arcs.

How do I find my true course?

2:093:58VFR Nav Log (Video 2) True Course and Distance - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo it's easier to measure using using lines of longitude. So I'm going to try to find a good one andMoreSo it's easier to measure using using lines of longitude. So I'm going to try to find a good one and I see a point right up here where my line intersects a line of longitude.

The Three-Degree Glideslope

The following rules of thumb calculations will assume a three-degree glideslope.

Determining Top of Descent

The first step to simply calculating your descent is determining where it should begin, known as the “Top of Descent” (TOD). It is important to note that the TOD is where your descent should begin, not where you should initiate the descent. Aircraft have inertia (thanks, Mr.

Determining Rate of Descent

To determine the required Rate of Descent (ROD) for a three-degree glideslope, simply multiply your groundspeed by 5.

Conclusion

These rules are used more often than you think, even in larger aircraft. Aviation is a dynamic environment where it is sometimes more efficient to make a quick rule of thumb calculation than input data into a computer. Often, these rules are used to initiate a descent, allowing time to input data into the computer at a later stage.

What is the degree of north in aviation?

Course directions are specified in degrees from north, either true or magnetic. In aviation, north is usually expressed as 360°. Navigators used ordinal directions, instead of compass degrees, e.g. "northeast" instead of 45° until the mid-20th century when the use of degrees became prevalent.

What is the course of a watercraft?

In navigation, the course of a watercraft or aircraft is the cardinal direction in which the craft is to be steered. The course is to be distinguished from the heading, which is the compass direction in which the craft's bow or nose is pointed.

What is the track of a vessel?

A, B - Vessel's track. The path that a vessel follows over the ground is called a ground track, course made good or course over the ground. For an aircraft it is simply its track. The intended track is a route. For ships and aircraft, routes are typically straight-line segments between waypoints. A navigator determines the bearing (the compass ...

Introduction

It’s fairly straightforward to figure out how long it’ll take you to get to your destination when you’re driving a car. If you know how fast your car is going, all you need to do is divide the distance remaining to your destination by your speed, and voilà, you now know how long it’ll take you to get there!

Indicated Airspeed

The Airspeed Indicator itself has some inaccuracies brought about from the way it was manufactured. This is called instrument error. Some corrections are applied to the ASIR and the resulting readings are called the Indicated Airspeed (IAS).

Calibrated Airspeed

CAS is your Calibrated airspeed. CAS is also sometimes called Rectified Airspeed (RAS). This reading is the Indicated Airspeed that has been corrected for position error.

True Airspeed

The True Airspeed (TAS) is the actual speed of your aircraft relative to the surrounding air. The difference in air density due to temperature and the pressure at altitude affects the reading displayed on the airspeed indicator. True airspeed takes the change in air density into account.

How to Calculate TAS Using a Flight Computer

In order to figure out your True Airspeed using a flight computer, you’ll need to know your pressure altitude and the Outer Air Temperature (OAT).

How to estimate your TAS

If you’re just looking for a rough estimate though, you can calculate your TAS mentally by just adding 2 percent of the CAS for every thousand feet of pressure altitude.

Ground Speed

Now that you’ve corrected your airspeed for altitude and temperature, you’ve got your True Airspeed. What we need now is to convert our TAS into Ground Speed (GS), which is the speed your aircraft is covering over the ground.

How much to put where?

Manually calculating weight and balance is really the same as your basic high school math class. Take the example below to warm up your brain and get in back into math mode if its been a while since you were in a high school math class.

Weight & Balance Terminology

Center of Gravity: The mass center of the aircraft. This is the point on which the aircraft would balance if suspended from a singular point.

image

Heading

Image
Heading is probably the most confusing term out of all of these because it can most easily be used in conversation to replace track, bearing, or course. By definition though, heading is actually just the direction that the nose is pointed. This does not factor for wind, or the actual movement of the airplane across the groun…
See more on airplaneacademy.com

Track

  • Track is the easiest of these four to understand in my mind,because it simply refers to how you are actually tracking over the ground. Whennavigating in the air, your track is really all that matters in terms ofgetting to where you want to go. If you need to go northeast to yourdestination, and have a significant wind from the west, your heading might beto the north in order to achieve a tr…
See more on airplaneacademy.com

Bearing

  • Bearing can be confusing sometimes because has some overlap with course. Bearing is simply the angle or direction between two points. A practical application of this is in VOR navigation. It’s a common thing to hear someone say “we are bearing 090 from the station”. This simply means that off of the VOR they are tracking on the 090 radial outbound from the station. In relation to th…
See more on airplaneacademy.com

Course

  • Course is very similar to bearing in that it’s the desireddirection for your route of flight. If you are going directly from one airportto the other, your course and bearing will be the same along the route of flight.If you are flying from an airport to a VOR to another airport, your course willchange in each leg, as will your bearing.
See more on airplaneacademy.com

Example

  • For this example we’re going to work backwards through the above mentioned directions. Assume you are departing an airport and your destination is directly eastbound. When you take off the course between the departing airport and destination airport is 090. In this instance the bearing of the destination airport off of your departing airport is also 090. This is also the direction you wan…
See more on airplaneacademy.com

Does A GPS Use True Or Magnetic Heading?

  • The above example assumes you are using the compass in yourairplane (hence why it requires so many steps to calibrate the differencebetween your true course all the way down to your actual compass heading). Butwhat about a GPS? By definition it’s not using earth’s magnetic fields as a wayof navigation, but rather positioning information provided by satellites. So ifit shows your “de…
See more on airplaneacademy.com

The Three-Degree Glideslope

  • The following rules of thumb calculations will assume a three-degree glideslope. A three-degree glideslope refers to the angle of descent anaircraftwill use. In other words, the angle between the flight path and the ground. The larger the angle, the steeper the descent, and the higher the rate of descent. A commercial aircraft will typically descend at between 1,500 and 3,000 feet per minut…
See more on pilotinstitute.com

Determining Top of Descent

  • The first step to simply calculating your descent is determining where it should begin, known as the “Top of Descent” (TOD). It is important to note that the TOD is where your descent should begin, not where you should initiate the descent. Aircraft have inertia (thanks, Mr. Newton), and as a result, you will have to initiate the descent before your TOD, allowing the aircraft to begindesce…
See more on pilotinstitute.com

Determining Rate of Descent

  • To determine the required Rate of Descent (ROD) for a three-degree glideslope, simply multiply your groundspeed by 5. For our example, we’ll use 80 knots. Therefore: 80 x 5 = 400 An easier, pilot-friendly way to quickly make a multiplied by five calculation is to divide your groundspeed (or any number) by two and add a zero to the end of the number...
See more on pilotinstitute.com

But What About Wind?

  • If only nature wouldn’t mess with our mathematics… Wind, by its very nature, is dynamic. Wind speed and direction vary with height, meaning as you descend, your groundspeed will change, bringing you either further or closer to your arrival point than you calculated, as your rate of descent (should have) remained constant. Generally speaking, if your descent is shorter, for exa…
See more on pilotinstitute.com

Conclusion

  • These rules are used more often than you think, even in larger aircraft. Aviation is a dynamic environment where it is sometimes more efficient to make a quick rule of thumb calculation than input data into a computer. Often, these rules are used to initiate a descent, allowing time to input data into the computer at a later stage. But, although incredibly useful, these are only rules of th…
See more on pilotinstitute.com