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to calculate magnetic heading

Asked by: 10055 views Flight Instructor

If true heading from airport A to airport B was measured as 075º true, and the magnetic variation at airport A is 4º east, then what would be the magnetic heading at airport A?

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1 Answers



  1. Skyfox on Dec 07, 2016

    There’s a little rhyme taught in private pilot ground school, “East is least, west is best.” Least meaning less, meaning subtraction, with the opposite (best) meaning addition. So, you take the 75º true course you measured from the chart with your plotter and apply the magnetic variation in the same way. Since it’s 4º east variation you’d subtract it from your true course to get…well, I think you can figure it out the rest of the way.

    By the way, since you described them as true heading and magnetic heading, that implies you’ve already applied your wind correction angle to the true course to turn it into true heading, which in turn once you apply magnetic variation will convert it into magnetic heading just the same.

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