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Course to Fly

Magnetic Course​

Magnetic north

  • The magnetic north pole does not exist at the true north pole, so there's a slight error between true north and magnetic north
  • This error gets more pronounced as you travel further north

Flight Plan Checkpoints​

  • Use large airports, not small ones
  • Big, unique lakes
  • Mountains
  • Use big features first
  • Check the terrain

Dead Reckoning​

Navigation solely by the means of pre-calculated headings, times, wind direction, using airspeed, groundspeed, and elapsed time.

Track Error​

  • Estimate closing angle vs track error, using 10° reference lines on the chart
  • 1 in 60 rule:
    • For every 60 miles from a point, every 1 degree of course is 1 mile off course
    • Course error = (distance from station)60∗(distance from course)\frac{(\text{distance from station})}{\text{60}} * \text{(distance from course)}