Course (navigation)

Instruments used to plot a course on a nautical or aeronautical chart.

In navigation, aircraft's course is the compass direction along which the

aircraft is to be steered. It is to be distinguished from the aircraft's
heading, which is the compass direction in which the craft's nose is
pointed.
Course, track, route and heading
The line connecting the object's consecutive positions on the ground is
referred to as the ground track. The track the object was intended to
follow is called the route. For aircraft, the route is represented by the
great circle line that connects the previous waypoint with the next
waypoint. The responsibility of a navigator is to make the track coincide
as much as possible with the route. The direction of the route is called
the route course. "Course" exceptionally, and arguably erroneously, may
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also refer to the route, such as in a course deviation indicator, in which
case it no longer constitutes an angle but rather a line. The direction of
the great circle line that runs from the current position to the next
waypoint is called the course to steer, or the bearing to that waypoint.
The tracking angle is the angle between the course to steer and the
course. The heading is the direction to which the "nose" of the object is
pointing, its orientation.
Directions (course to steer, course, heading and route course) are
typically measured clockwise from north, either true or magnetic, in
degrees from 0° to 359°, following compass convention (0° being north,
90° being east, etc.). In aviation, north is usually expressed as 360°
instead of 0° . For land based vehicles (like cars), heading and course
are typically identical, but for aircraft the action of wind, may cause the
two to differ significantly.

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Relationship between true and magnetic direction

 Heading (2) is the angle between the direction in which the object's
nose is pointing and a reference direction (e.g. true north (1)) (the
heading of the ship shown in the image above is about 060°).
 Any reading from a magnetic compass refers to compass north (4),
which is supposed to contain a two-part compass error:
a) The Earth's magnetic field's north direction, or magnetic north (3),
almost always differs from true north by magnetic variation (6), the local
amount of which may be found in nautical or aeronautical charts, and
b) The vehicle's own magnetic field may influence the compass by so-called
magnetic deviation (5). Deviation only depends on the vehicle's own
magnetic field and the heading, and therefore can be checked out and
given as a deviation table or, graphically, as a Napier's diagram.
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  The compass heading (7) has to be corrected first for deviation (the
"nearer" error), which yields the magnetic heading (8). Correcting
this for variation yields true heading (2).
 In case of a crosswind (9), and/or tidal or other current (10), the

heading will not meet the desired target, as the vehicle will
continuously drift sideways; it becomes necessary to point the
heading away from the course to counteract these effects and make
the track coincide with the great circle.
Aircraft heading

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True heading (left) and magnetic heading (right)

An aircraft's heading is the direction that the aircraft's nose is pointing.

It is referenced by using either the magnetic compass or heading indicator, two instruments that most aircraft have as standard. Using
standard instrumentation, it is in reference to the local magnetic north direction. True heading is in relation to the lines of meridian
(north–south lines). The units are degrees from north in a clockwise direction. North is 0°, east is 90°, south is 180°, and west is 270°.

Note that, due to wind forces, the direction of movement of the aircraft, or track, is not the same as the heading. The nose of the
aircraft may be pointing due west, for example, but a strong northerly wind will change its track south of west. The angle between
heading and track is known as the drift angle. Crab angle is the amount of correction an aircraft must be turned into the wind in order
to maintain the desired course. It is opposite in direction to the drift angle and approximately equal in magnitude for small angles.

An aircraft can have instruments on board that show to the pilot the aircraft heading. The autopilot can be programmed to maintain
either the aircraft heading or its course (when set in a proper mode and with correct navigational data inputs).

Relationship between course and heading

The heading will differ from the course depending on (1) the forward speed (speed parallel to the heading) of the vehicle in its
medium (air for an aircraft, water for a vessel), (2) drift speed (speed orthogonal to the heading) in its medium and (3) wind speed and
wind direction (only for aircraft) direction. In the event of a headwind or tailwind, heading and course in an aircraft are the same.

In an aircraft, to correct for the difference between heading and course, a navigator uses the wind triangle. In the early days of
navigation, wind speed was estimated by the drift observed and the plane was steered to correct for the wind influence. Contemporary
navigational aids have simplified the problem of determining course to steer.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEARING Vs COURSE Vs direction Vs HEADING?

3 Answers

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1.Heading:
This is where my nose points - and seeing as my nose is attached to my head, this is where my head (and thus my machine) is pointing
relative to North.

Course:
This is my INTENDED path of travel that I have calculated taking into consideration winds, variation and declination.

Track:
This is my ACTUAL path traveled over ground - just like a set of tracks I would leave behind in the snow or sand, relative to North

Bearing:
This is the angle between the location of an object, machine or destination and either:
- my heading. This is called 'Relative Bearing'.
- or magnetic north (direction toward the magnetic north pole). This is called 'Magnetic Bearing'.

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So from the picture, if I take off from Springfield enroute to Shelbyville. My course (the intended path) is due East, or 090 degrees. I
notice my winds are Southerly (from 183 degrees / to 003 degrees), so I make my heading 095 degrees to compensate for wind drift
(or 5 degrees crab into the wind).

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If my calculations are bang on, my track should be the same as my course, however I misjudged the winds, finding out my resulting
track over the ground is 081 degrees - I must correct (by increasing) my heading to get back on course.

Now with some airports, the navaids (NDB or VOR) are not directly at the airfield but some distance away, so if I wanted to either fly
directly to the NDB or figure out my position in space during enroute nav checks, I would take the bearing to the NDB/VOR either
relative to my heading or relative to magnetic north to find its position.

2. Heading
It is the value the compass shows you while you fly your plane, relative to Earth's magnetic field. But your heading is not where
exactly your plane goes. Why? because in most of the cases (if not all) there is wind.

Track
This is the aircraft's actual "path" over the ground when wind effect is "added up" to the aircraft's velocity. You need track for
navigation since this is where you actually go.

Bearing
If it is from north (true or magnetic): Having two locations A and B, bearing of B to A is the angle measured clockwise from north to
B having as angle vertex location A.

If it is relative: Having 2 locations A and B, bearing of B to A is the angle measured clockwise from point A forward direction to B
having as angle vertex location A.

In the following picture, red is true bearing, blue is relative bearing.

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Course
This is the one and only path you can follow to reach one specific point. Suppose that you are instructed to "approach the XYZ point
from the east" that means course 270 to the XYZ point. The following pictures depicts the concept: 270 course to XYZ is the green
one. The red one goes to XYZ but it is not 270, the orange is 270 but doesn't end to XYZ.

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3. The difference between track and heading not only includes wind, but also includes flight in sideslip due to asymmetric drag (eg
engine out) or pilot induced steady heading sideslip. It also includes AoA during a turn; extreme case of 90degrees AoB at high AoA.

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